Concerning the email from Will Gilligan to VE FO Interviewees, I assume the fictitious name is pretty damning, but what if Halstead had sent them in his own name? Would it still be fraud? There are two more facts that are not yet in evidence, that could still make it fraud, and if they are proved later, make the case pretty strong. I will pose them as questions.
1. Did Varsity Air Service's contract with Links Air grant VAS the right to hire FO's for the flights or barring this, did LA and VAS have an agreement in place wherein VAS' Directors could recommend FOs to LA for this route?
2. Did Links Air or Varsity ever discuss with OAA that they would send FOs to Manchester (or Stockholm, or anywhere else) for OAA provided Jetstream 31 Type Ratings?
There are three follow up questions:
3. Where have Links Air previously sent FOs for Type Ratings?
4. Did OAA have a Jetstream 31 type rating course scheduled to start on the date in question, or if not already scheduled, could they have met that date?
5. How much do OAA charge for a Jetstream 31 Type Rating?
It is sad that the people who paid £15K got suckered in when the FO interview was with a company that did not hold an AOC and was subcontracting the flight ops. Shouldn't it have been Links Air doing the interviews and hiring? Links Air probably should have pulled the plug as soon as they heard VAS was interviewing FOs, but maybe they never heard since PPrune had to pull so many threads.
Potential has written that he applied for a Cabin Crew position with VE. The same set of questions applies to this, but since there are no claims yet of charging for CC training, perhaps there was no fraud in this regard. It does make me wonder why VAS bothered to hold CC interviews though.