Air Platinum Club Owner Comments on Lawsuits

Responding by phone to a recent BJT Bulletin about Air Platinum Club's financial and legal problems, club owner Mickael Cohen disputed Questar Jets' claim that his firm owes Questar $96,750. Communicating through an interpreter, the French-speaking Cohen said the correct figure is "in the range of $20,000 and what we are doing right now is trying to recover the amount from a customer that didn't pay." Regarding a successful lawsuit against the club by Swiss air charter broker Travcon, Cohen said his firm is "proceeding against them with our attorney...In fact, we didn't sign any agreement with Travcon. Somebody working for the company made a false signature to make a flight for one of its customers and we have all the proof of everything." As for a lawsuit for nonpayment against Air Platinum Club by Prestige Motorcar Imports of Miami, Cohen asserted that a deal for a car "never went through" and added that "there is also proof that the car that was delivered had a defect." Cohen also said the club was not really evicted from North Miami Business Park "because they made an eviction in January but we left the office...in October 2008." He stated that Air Platinum Club is still in business and will open offices in New York but he acknowledged that "we are not doing any flights because we returned the aircraft that we had because the lease was way too expensive." He said "we are in the final negotiation for a new [Gulfstream] GIV that should be with us in January." Cohen explained that the club's Web site isn't accessible because "we found some problems" on the site and "wanted to correct everything before it's back in service." As for the company's nonworking phone number, Cohen said, "The number is correct but we have a computer problem. We cannot receive calls but we can give phone calls so they are trying to fix that."