Anyone know this guy?
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Anyone know this guy?
Crowe pilot on the run
December 14, 2003
AN unlicensed helicopter pilot convinced one of Australia's biggest Hollywood stars to hire him to fly between Sydney and his NSW north coast farm.
Russell Crowe employed Paul James Bennett several times to fly him between Sydney and his 240ha property at Nana Glen, near Coffs Harbour, without knowing Bennett was not licensed for such charter flights.
Bennett is now on the run, facing six fraud charges after allegedly exaggerating his association with Crowe to secure loans and credit cards.
Bennett lodged three loan applications for up to $100,000 while claiming to be Crowe's personal pilot employed on an annual salary of $120,000.
In a statement to police, Crowe said he met Bennett after he landed unannounced in a helicopter on his farm about three years ago.
But the relationship soured after Bennett was blamed for turning a Crowe Christmas party into a media circus with rumours that he planned to wed movie star Meg Ryan.
Bennett also used a photograph of him and Crowe in a helicopter cabin, published in a Sydney newspaper, as a virtual calling card in his business dealings.
Bennett vanished last month, just before he was due to face the fraud counts and a blackmail charge.
District Court Judge Ken Taylor ordered Bennett's immediate arrest, and police yesterday issued a photo in a bid to track him down.
Bennett, also known as Paul Lochead, falsely told two helicopter firms he was licensed to carry out charter work, such as flying Crowe around NSW, the court heard. He was later charged with blackmailing a woman he met through a dating service, forcing her to provide cash for his bail on the fraud charges.
In a separate investigation, the Civil Aviation Safety Authority (CASA) has moved to cancel Bennett's flying licence because of irregularities over his helicopter credentials.
Bennett, 40, and his girlfriend, Simone, were last seen renting a unit near Hornsby.
A local court magistrate was told Bennett would defend all the charges, but a District Court judge later heard he intended to contest only the fraudulent licence charges.
CASA is waiting for police to find Bennett so a "show cause" licence revocation move can continue.
The Sunday Telegraph
December 14, 2003
AN unlicensed helicopter pilot convinced one of Australia's biggest Hollywood stars to hire him to fly between Sydney and his NSW north coast farm.
Russell Crowe employed Paul James Bennett several times to fly him between Sydney and his 240ha property at Nana Glen, near Coffs Harbour, without knowing Bennett was not licensed for such charter flights.
Bennett is now on the run, facing six fraud charges after allegedly exaggerating his association with Crowe to secure loans and credit cards.
Bennett lodged three loan applications for up to $100,000 while claiming to be Crowe's personal pilot employed on an annual salary of $120,000.
In a statement to police, Crowe said he met Bennett after he landed unannounced in a helicopter on his farm about three years ago.
But the relationship soured after Bennett was blamed for turning a Crowe Christmas party into a media circus with rumours that he planned to wed movie star Meg Ryan.
Bennett also used a photograph of him and Crowe in a helicopter cabin, published in a Sydney newspaper, as a virtual calling card in his business dealings.
Bennett vanished last month, just before he was due to face the fraud counts and a blackmail charge.
District Court Judge Ken Taylor ordered Bennett's immediate arrest, and police yesterday issued a photo in a bid to track him down.
Bennett, also known as Paul Lochead, falsely told two helicopter firms he was licensed to carry out charter work, such as flying Crowe around NSW, the court heard. He was later charged with blackmailing a woman he met through a dating service, forcing her to provide cash for his bail on the fraud charges.
In a separate investigation, the Civil Aviation Safety Authority (CASA) has moved to cancel Bennett's flying licence because of irregularities over his helicopter credentials.
Bennett, 40, and his girlfriend, Simone, were last seen renting a unit near Hornsby.
A local court magistrate was told Bennett would defend all the charges, but a District Court judge later heard he intended to contest only the fraudulent licence charges.
CASA is waiting for police to find Bennett so a "show cause" licence revocation move can continue.
The Sunday Telegraph
In case I ever bump into the clown
So do a few operators, especially the one whose helicopter he cross hired on a dud credit card, then left it 2 hours later at Mascot, scarpered while the blades were still winding down 
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Photograph???
Has anyone got the pic that appeared in the paper??....or others?
How about ARN, CASA registered postal address, training history?
This dude must have taken lessons somewhere so he should be easy to pin point.
I would hope the police have already gone down this path, but we are a tight small community, and he will be back doing something similar soon!!!, if his photo is around the various schools etc, he won't get to far.
How about ARN, CASA registered postal address, training history?
This dude must have taken lessons somewhere so he should be easy to pin point.
I would hope the police have already gone down this path, but we are a tight small community, and he will be back doing something similar soon!!!, if his photo is around the various schools etc, he won't get to far.
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I remember Paul Bennett from about 17 years ago he hung around the Venison Recovery crews in South Westland, he surfaced a few years later in the North Island and pulled the wool over alot of peoples eyes, he had a D model 500 that he flew and never paid for and a porsche!
He never held any sort of licence under NZ CAA but that didnt stop him.
Unfortuantly he is a Kiwi NZ was too small for him, sounds like he is running out of room in OZ
He never held any sort of licence under NZ CAA but that didnt stop him.
Unfortuantly he is a Kiwi NZ was too small for him, sounds like he is running out of room in OZ
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This character also swanned around the East Coast of Oz calling himself Paul Maybury, and leaving some rather stunned folks in his wake. The word is that he duped some bikie gang out of several hundred thousand bucks supposedly to buy a helicopter.
As of the last week of November the NSW police advised that he had apparently forgotten to attend a court appearance and he had instead fled to Canada.
Good bloody riddance.
As of the last week of November the NSW police advised that he had apparently forgotten to attend a court appearance and he had instead fled to Canada.
Good bloody riddance.
