AIRLINE BOSS IS ARRESTED; Police quiz fraud suspect.Byline: JEZ JEZ Joint Engagement Zone DAVISON THE Nigerian businessman aiming to restore Teesside's air link with London has been arrested and quizzed by fraud squad Police Fraud Squad City of London Police The largest Fraud squad is run by the City of London Police who are responsible for policing London's and the UK's main financial hub. officers. Victor Bassey, the founder of Excelsis Airways -whose entire management team quit recently in a row over pay -was taken in for questioning yesterday morning. A Cleveland Police This article is about the English police force. For the Ohio police force, please see Cleveland Ohio Police. Cleveland Police is the Home Office police force responsible for policing the area of former county of Cleveland in North East England. spokeswoman said: "Detectives from Cleveland Police Fraud Investigation Team arrested a 49-year-old man on suspicion of fraud. "The man was taken to Middlesbrough Police Office to be questioned." He was released on bail last night following questioning. Mr Bassey was reported to police by the company's management team, which last week announced it had resigned, claiming it had not received "a single penny" for work already carried out. The news is the latest twist in a saga that originally promised good news for Tees Valley's business commuters. In August, Mr Bassey claimed he had secured pounds 10m that would give lift-off to a three-times-a-day service from Durham Tees Valley Airport Durham Tees Valley Airport (IATA: MME, ICAO: EGNV) is an airport in North East England, located approximately 10 km (6 miles) east of Darlington, about 16 km (10 miles) south west of Middlesbrough and 39 km (24 miles) south of Durham. (DTVA) to London City by the end of the year. But the funds have so far failed to materialise. Excelsis launched earlier this year with the aim of operating a short-haul, premium service targeted primarily, but not exclusively, at the business traveller. It aimed to connect the Tees Valley with destinations within a 90-minute flying time, with Belgium, The Netherlands, Ireland and northern France on Excelsis' radar. But doubts surfaced as the Evening Gazette revealed the Teesside-London City route had not been finalised, the Civil Aviation Authority Civil Aviation Authority civil (Brit) n → Behörde f für Zivilluftfahrt had not received -and is yet to receive -an application for an operator's licence, no aircraft for the route had been secured and part of Excelsis' website had been copied from a Canadian carrier's site. FLIGHT HOPES: Our previous story on the air link to London, above CAPTION(S): QUIZZED: Nigerian businessman Victor Bassey, left, has been arrested on suspicion of fraud and questioned by police. The founder of Excelsis Airways had been hoping to restore a link between the Tees Valley and London |
|
||||||||||||||||
Printer friendly
Cite/link
Email
Feedback
Reader Opinion