January 20, 2021, Middle District of Florida – Debtor Via Airlines, a Florida-based airline, recently sued, a leading provider of products and services to the aerospace and defense industry, for damages and recovery of alleged fraudulent transfers worth $1,000,000.000.
Defendant Precision Aviation Group provided repair services to the Debtor. As alleged n the complaint, Precision took possession of certain aircraft parts from Via Airlines for repair. The parts supposedly retained a value of $1M in “as removed” or “serviceable” condition. The parts were to be returned to Via Airlines post-repair. However, Precision purportedly never returned the parts to Via Airlines in repaired, rebuilt, or overhauled condition. Precision allegedly sold a significant number of parts for substantial profit without Via’s permission and now possessed only a portion of parts with a value of $75,000.
Via contends that Precision deprived Via Airlines of the ability to sell or use the parts for its own beneficial purpose and retained its possession. Subsequently, Via Airlines became insolvent and filed for bankruptcy. Precision filed for proof of claim worth $255,000 against the Debtor’s estate, a portion of which is claimed to be secured by a possessory lien on property belonging to the airline.
Via objects to the proof of claim filed by Precision. Via also alleges that Precision knowingly and voluntarily accepted the parts from Via Airlines and had been unjustly enriched at the expense of the Debtor’s bankruptcy estate. Further, Via transferred the parts to Precision within two years before the petition date and did not receive reasonably equivalent value in exchange for the transfer. Thus, Via argues that it is entitled to recover the alleged transfer under Sec. 548 of the bankruptcy Code as constructively fraudulent transfers.
Via Airlines Inc. made the voluntary Chapter 11 filing in Florida Middle Bankruptcy Court on Oct. 8, 2019. The current case is Via Airlines, Inc. vs Precision Avaiation Group, Inc., Case No. -19-06589 in the United States Bankruptcy Court for Middle District of Florida.
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