Your Jet Life - A scam or sham?

[wheelyfunny]

A current Affair @ 7pm

[josephfeatherweight]

Missed the Current Affair segment.
What's the verdict, did I lose my money (unnecessarily) when I tried to win that Cirrus last year?

[Andy_G]

Well that dodgy business got 30 of my hard earned biccies, I'm pissed. We've all essentially given our cash to a dodgy scammer to pump into his personal lifestyle.
From Current affair =
Used Angel flight's good brand name and ran a public lottery underwritten by Art Union. Pulled the wool over everybodies eyes andwent on national televesion on 7 and 9 to market the whole thing. Ran a televised lottery draw, called the winner.
But- has not supplied the plane/cash/hangar/fuel as stated. Gave Angelflight 12k cash from his personal CC account and thats all. Tried to quietly walk away.

Current Affair caught him in the street (Tenerife Brisbane) before ducking into his gated property. Many confusing answers and deflecting replies.
Referred to Police by NSW Dept of Fair trading.

[tail wheel]

https://www.australianflying.com.au/...-funds-for-jet

Tuesday 11 June: "Helping people in need is what they do and when Angel Flight was offered some help in return - they took it. Now they're wishing they didn't": https://www.9now.com.au/a-current-af...24/episode-133

At the end of that Current Affair article there appears to be a suggestion that the perpetrator also pulled off two other similar scams???

[rioncentu]

Nice one Royce you Scumbag

[Squawk7700]

Originally Posted by tail wheel

At the end of that Current Affair article there appears to be a suggestion that the perpetrator also pulled off two other similar scams???

Yes, the R44 or $1m “draw” was one of them.

[KRviator]

I wondered if something might have been afoot with the financing of said Cirrus when -8AF's last flight was at the Cirrus factory in March last year, and it hasn't appeared on ADS-B anywhere in the world since then. The cynic in me had visions of that RAAus Bushcat debacle, but it didn't stop me dropping a several hundred dollarydoos for tickets in the vain hope she'd grace my hangar. Looks like we've all been taken for a ride, and the worst part is AF looks to have lost an additional $300K in donations after people sent their $$ to the lottery vs donating directly.

Here's the ACA online story and a view-able video that doesn't require you to have a 9Now account.

[Global Aviator]

Yep, also duped. What’s that ole saying when it sounds toooooo good to be true…

Anyone wanna buy a ticket for a C209XT… 🫣

[josephfeatherweight]

but it didn't stop me dropping a several hundred dollarydoos for tickets in the vain hope she'd grace my hangar.

Yep, I did the same. I don't normally spend that sort of cash on a raffle, but the prize was epic and I was pretty happy that Angel Flight were being supported in some manner.

VERY unhappy with how this has turned out. Hope Royce gets dealt with appropriately. I actually want to hear "his side of the story".

[josephfeatherweight]

From the ACA Website:The Department of Fair Trading has now referred the matter to New South Wales Police, who are investigating.

FULL NSW FAIR TRADING STATEMENT

NSW Fair Trading investigated 'Your Jet Life' and has referred the matter to NSW Police for potential breaches of the Community Gaming Act.

As this matter is ongoing, further information is not available at this time.

FULL NSW POLICE STATEMENT

Following a recent referral from the Department of Fair Trading, officers from Bankstown Police Area Command have commenced an investigation into the conduct of a charity raffle between December 2022 and December 2023.

As the investigation is ongoing, police will not be making any further comment.


They'd better freeze his passport before he tries to nick off!

[NZFlyingKiwi]

I also bought a ticket despite having a few misgivings about how 'legit' the whole thing seemed, all of the marketing including the TV appearance was very convincing and it seemed like the money would be going to a good cause. Part of me isn't surprised to hear about this because it always seemed like a deal that was a bit too good to be true, but it's still extremely disappointing.

[Stationair8]

Global Aviator, does the C209XT ticket include an ICUS programme?

Just asking for a friend?

[BronteExperimental]

I know AF well and also bought a few tickets.
I don’t think anyone should be beating themselves up about it being “too good to be true” The odds were pretty much the same as a $20 Saturday lotto ticket. I kissed my money goodbye clear eyed.

If this was a premeditated con, it was certainly a well documented and permitted long one well worth prosecuting.
It’s also plausible they didn’t sell enough of the 500,000 tickets to make the whole thing work and it’s descended into unscrambling the egg.

Australia. The white collar criminal’s paradise according to ASIC. No ****.

[Andy_G]

Originally Posted by josephfeatherweight

They'd better freeze his passport before he tries to nick off!

Yep, pretty standard playbook, he'll be gone before you know it!

[lucille]

One of the most egregious businesses are professional fundraisers. And worse still, they are a legitimate business with their very own lobby group - Fundraising Institute of Australia.

Only a fraction of the actual money you donate via any of their events goes to the charity, the rest gets eaten up in costs, fees and salaries. I know one person who became a seriously rich multimillionaire via his fund raising business. Who knows how many needy people never got the help they deserved so that he can drive around in his brand new $490K Porsche today.

Be sure to only donate directly to the charity of your choice not via lotteries or staged events.

[Squawk7700]

A friend worked in a call centre selling expensive gold plated pen sets with “profits going to charity” and were told to say in response to customers asking about how much goes to charity, they were told to say “I don’t know how much exactly, but you’d think it would be about half.”

Turns out it was actually 5 cents!

The pen sets were $295.

[Ex FSO GRIFFO]

Re #8,


Is that the one with the latest Thronomister..?

[Checkboard]

Turns out it was actually 5 cents!

The pen sets were $295.

That would almost certainly break state fundraising laws. Those laws require honest representation, and in most cases, a minimum percentage of sale cost for the donation.

For instance, in New South Wales, the Charitable Fundraising Act 1991, sets out that a licensed charity must use reasonable endeavours to ensure that its expenses do not exceed 50% of the gross incomes received.

[lucille]

Originally Posted by Checkboard

For instance, in New South Wales, the Charitable Fundraising Act 1991, sets out that a licensed charity must use reasonable endeavours to ensure that its expenses do not exceed 50% of the gross incomes received.

50%…. now that’s juicy! No wonder there’s a new Porsche in his garage.

Yup, the fundraisers set out to do good and did real well.

[SGM111]

The lottery email sent to me on 21 February 2023 came directly from Angelflight and says "This is a joint effort by Monarc Global and the iconic charity Angel Flight."

According to Linkedin, Monarc Global is run by

• Royce Crown - CEO of both Monarc Global and YourJetLife (he is the guy fleeing from ACA journalists and under investigation by NSW Police) and also
• Monica Zagrodny - Co-Founder of Monarc Global , currently National Product & Supply Leader - Corporate Traveller at Flight Centre Travel Group

Not sure if they got matching porsches with the money that was supposed to go the charity and be paid to the "winner".

Perhaps anyone reading this should on principle REFUSE anything to do with Monarc Global or their aviation operation.

AngelFlight seems to have lost as well, but I think they will be fine since according to their public finances, they have $11.8m in assets, and an annual wages bill of $974k spread across only one CEO (Margorie Pagani who features prominently in the promotion of the scam lottery) and some part-time admins. Why is it that charity CEO's don't disclose their income?

UPDATE : I got a tipoff that Margorie Pagani was on Channel 10 as late as 18 August 2023 promoting the SUBSEQUENT scam lotteries that police believe never even took place.