JetSmarter President Resigns After 'Unrelated' Charges

Edward Gennady Barsky, president of private jet booking app provider JetSmarter, has stepped down from that role after he was arrested in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, on charges of five counts of grand theft by embezzlement. JetSmarter announced the news, saying that Barsky resigned “due to personal reasons unrelated to the company” and that “JetSmarter wishes Mr. Barsky success in the future.” Barsky, who had been CFO before taking over as president a year ago, was responsible for building the company’s worldwide business and overseeing global investor relations and business development. Barsky also had been executive chairman of the real estate development company Verzasca Group.

A successor has not yet been named for the president’s role. “We continue to add executives and make our member experience better, and we will continue to revolutionize the private aviation business,” a JetSmarter spokesperson told BJT.

Chairman and CEO Sergey Petrossov founded Fort Lauderdale-based JetSmarter in 2012 and has since expanded the company with offices in London, Zurich, Moscow, Dubai, Riyadh, Hong Kong and Istanbul. The company in December raised $105 million in funding from existing and new strategic investors in its series C funding round to expand its JetShuttles private jet offerings that include 48 routes from major cities in the U.S., Europe and Dubai. JetSmarter has partnered with a number of operators to offer the services.

The company has also announced plans to unveil the first JetSmarter-branded lounge at New York-area Westchester County Airport in the spring. The lounge will open under a partnership with Ross Aviation and will be available to JetSmarter members.