This bloke cheated legitimate operators out of hundreds of thousands of dollars. It’s operation like his that drive aviation down and down while CASA are too busy checking legitimate operators have the spelling right in their ops manuals.
“A North Queensland pilot has been sentenced to five years in jail, to be released after two, after he was convicted of fraud over flights he chartered without a licence for Kennedy MP Bob Katter.
Key points:
- 37-year-old Josh Hoch will serve 2 years in jail after chartering flights without an air operators certificate or a commercial licence
- Hoch received almost $370,000 from 96 illegally chartered flights between 2011 and 2015
- 61 of those flights carried MP Bob Katter
Josh Hoch was convicted by a jury in Townsville District Court on Friday of 13 charges including unlicensed flying and fraud to the value of $30,000 or more.
The 37-year-old operated two charter businesses, Flying Fitters Pty Ltd and Hoch Air Pty Ltd, without an aircraft operator's certificate between 2011 and 2015.
Hoch received about $370,000 from illegally-chartered flights over the four year period, including almost $260,000 for 61 charter flights which carried Katter's Australian Party politician, Bob Katter”
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-11-...tter/101678316