US Court orders ‘cash jet’ owner to surrender all pilot licences

Dec 07, 2014 News

…travel restricted between New Jersey and Puerto Rico

The owner of the private commercial jetliner that was held in Puerto Rico with US$620,000 in undeclared cash is

Exec Jet Services CEO Khamraj Lall

mandated to surrender all pilot’s licences as part of bail conditions following his court appearance last Monday.
Khamraj Lall, owner of Exec Jet Services, was placed on US$100,000 bail when he appeared before Magistrate Judge Marcos E. Lopez in Puerto Rico, and was confined to travel between New Jersey in the United States and Puerto Rico only for purposes pertaining to his court hearing.
The pilot is also allowed to continue working as Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of his aviation company, but only in an administrative capacity, and the duties must be performed from his residence.
Lall’s bail also comes with conditions that he does not violate federal, state, or local law while released. He has to cooperate in the collection of DNA samples if authorized, and he will also have to advise the court or the pre-trial services office or supervision officer in writing of any changes of residence or telephone number.
Lall’s conditions also require that he appears in court as required, and if convicted, he must surrender as directed to serve a sentence that the court may impose.
Should Lall fail to observe the court’s restrictions, he was warned that an immediate issuance of a warrant could result in his arrest. Revocation of his release, order of detention, a forfeiture of any bond and a prosecution for contempt of court, along with imprisonment or/and fine is also in the line.
If Lall commits any felony while on release, the punishment is an additional prison term of not more than ten years and a federal misdemeanor offence with a prison term of not more than one year. Among several other sanctions that relate to disobeying the bail conditions, Lall was warned, also, that should he commit any crime punishable by up to ten years, it will be taken as an intent to among other things, obstruct a criminal investigation and tampering with witnesses.
Local aviation authorities have confirmed that Lall’s local operation is currently on pause given his court matter. They continue to say that all the pilot’s local operations were above board and all his international papers were in order.
News surfaced that Lall has a hangar at Cheddi Jagan International Airport (CJIA) and it was stated further that Lall and his staffer had special privileges at CJIA.
CJIA head, Ramesh Ghir, and Transport Minister, Robeson Benn, have both denied that the company staffers were allowed any special privileges, despite airport sources saying that Exec Jet staffers were allowed to bypass immigration and customs checks among other things.
The Alliance for Change (AFC) said that in its own investigations, it too became aware of unorthodox movements afforded to the private company’s operations. President Donald Ramotar had traveled on at least three occasions onboard Lall’s aircraft. It is still unclear, the cost of the flight since Minister Benn said that Lall’s operation is cheaper that ordinary flights.
At the time of Lall’s arrest he was traveling with his father and his pilot. He was at the time co-piloting the flight when US authorities conducting checks onboard the plane found US$620,000 stashed in various parts of the craft.
When the first sum was found underneath one of the plane’s seats, Lall said initially, that the money was proceeds from his business and he had forgotten it there. When the second bag was found close to the plane’s engine, he took the blame and denied that his father and colleague knew anything about the money.