Kerry Lynch stepped into the role of editor of the&nbsp;Aviation International News&nbsp;monthly magazine in May 2022 after serving with&nbsp;AIN&nbsp;for eight years. She joined&nbsp;AIN&nbsp;in December 2014 as a senior editor covering Washington and business aviation news. She has also served on Convention News teams, including as editor of&nbsp;HAI Convention News. Lynch previously spent 25 years with Aviation Week. During her time there, she reported for and later steered&nbsp;The Weekly of Business Aviation, oversaw business aviation content on the&nbsp;Aviation Week Intelligence Network, served on the&nbsp;Show News&nbsp;staff, and held roles as the Washington columnist for&nbsp;Business &amp; Commercial Aviation&nbsp;and&nbsp;Overhaul &amp; Maintenance&nbsp;monthly magazines. In 2021 she was honored with the National Business Aviation Association Platinum Wing Award for lifetime achievement in journalism and was the 2004 recipient of the National Air Transportation Association’s Aviation Journalism Excellence Award. She also has been a recipient of an Aerospace Media Award for business aviation (2022) and NBAA Gold Wing Award (2003, 2024). Lynch graduated from The Ohio State University with a bachelor of arts in journalism.

Editor, AIN monthly magazine

Kerry Lynch

The Marion County Sheriff’s Office in Florida arrested a man and is searching for a second for allegedly using an aviation fuel pricing scheme to embezzle nearly $800,000 from a company led by actor John Travolta.&nbsp;Jean Paul Lacruz Romero, a pilot who was arrested, and fellow pilot Jorden Coursey, who is still at large, are suspected of defrauding Travolta’s Constellation Productions business out of about $785,050 from a period between October 2021 and July 2023.
Both pilots were employed by Constellation and issued company credit cards to purchase fuel and other expenses, <a href="https://acrobat.adobe.com/id/urn:aaid:sc:US:dc098092-61be-4375-a4aa-41f07065479e">according to the police report</a>. A coworker contacted the police after he became concerned about how much the business was paying for fuel.
A forensic examination revealed that the pilots used their company card to purchase fuel until October 2021, the police report detailed. After that point, the pilots would pay for fuel and expenses purchased through an organization named Lux Fuels, which the pilots had called a discount fuel brokerage. However, when the coworker researched Lux Fuels, he found that the business was registered to Paola Alvarez, wife of Lacruz Romero.
The pilots allegedly used World Fuel cards issued to Lux Fuels at the point of purchase, and Lux Fuels would then invoice Constellation for the cost of the fuel and other services. An accounting review of the invoices from Lux and the actual FBOs revealed that the charges from the brokerage were inflated either through an incorrect report of gallons purchased, a change in price per gallon, or both. In addition, Lux Fuels invoices contained administration fees.
Further investigation revealed that a portion of the funds in the Lux Fuels account were transferred to an account held by JPL Aviation, which is managed by Lacruz Romero, the police report said. One sum matched a purchase amount for a Cessna aircraft registered to JPL Aviation. Money was also alleged to have been transferred to the second pilot, Coursey, either directly or from an Air Jorden account.
Lacruz Romero is being held without bond with a court date expected in April. Both pilots were fired from Constellation.

News about bills, laws, regulations and other governmental decisions affecting aviation and aerospace. Topics include FAA re-authorizations, taxes on fuel and aviation activities, environmental legislation, ICAO decisions, governmental mediation of labor conflicts and World Trade Organization disputes and decisions.

Florida Case Alleges Aviation Fuel Pricing Fraud against Travolta Company

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In Marion County, Florida, police arrested a pilot for allegedly using an aviation fuel pricing scheme to embezzle money from a John Travolta-led company.

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