Jet Genius brand Charter Flight Group allegedly failed to refund $88,925 after it didn’t fulfill an ad hoc charter trip to Turks & Caicos.
Jet Genius Holdings, Charter Flight Group, and its principal, Jordan Brown, whose other private aviation brands include Jet Agency, JetCharter.com, and JetXchange, have been hit with another lawsuit.
(Editor’s Note: A text message from Jordan Brown after we published the article is included.)
It alleges that the private jet charter broker and its CEO first failed to fulfill flights the plaintiff had paid for, which were confirmed.
FlyCFG, as it is also known, then failed to provide a refund, per the filing.
The lawsuit was filed on Feb. 28, 2025, in the United States District Court Southern District of Florida.
According to the filing, Frederic Gautier-Winther contracted with Charter Flight Group for a flight from Houston to Turks & Caicos on Dec. 26, 2024, for nine passengers.
A return flight as part of the charter contract was scheduled for the group of nine on Jan. 2, 2024.
Gautier-Winther says he paid Charter Flight Group $88,925.
Per the lawsuit:
‘On November 15, 2024, Gautier-Winther and CFG entered into a written agreement whereby in exchange for a payment from Gautier-Winther to CFG in the amount of $US88,925.00 (the Charter Price), CFG agreed to arrange a charter flight from William P. Hobby Airport in Houston, Texas to Providenciales Airport in the Turks and Caicos Islands that was scheduled to take place on December 26, 2024, and for a return charter flight back to Houston on January 2, 2025.’
The lawsuit alleges, “Despite written demand from Gautier-Winther, CFG, and Brown, with felonious intent, have jointly and severally refused to remit the charter price to Gautier-Winther and have diverted the charter price for themselves.”
The plaintiff seeks “compensatory damages, treble damages in the amount of at least $276,775.00, pre-and post-judgment interest, expenses, attorney’s fees, court costs, and any and all such further relief as this Court deems just and proper.”
Fly Alliance was specified in the FlyCFG contract as the operator for the trip.
The contract reads, “The direct air carrier of the Gulfstream IV is Fly Alliance. CFG will notify the client within a reasonable amount of time should the direct air carrier change.”
However, a representative of Fly Alliance says the operator was not part of the trip.
The filing didn’t specify why Charter Flight Group couldn’t fulfill the flight.
It also didn’t specify if the Jet Genius brand offered any options.
The filing didn’t document what attempts were made to secure a refund.
The contract states:
‘All travel that includes departure or arrival dates on peak travel days are subject to a 100% cancellation charge. Peak travel days are defined as seven days prior to and seven days after all US Federal Holidays.’
However, the lawsuit alleges that “through no fault of Gautier-Winther, CFG failed to provide the charter flights.”
Maurice Baumgarten of Toricella Law, representing the plaintiff, said he did not have additional details.
Brown did not respond to a request to comment on the latest lawsuit before publication.
After we published the article, Brown texted us with the following. Brown’s comments are in gray.
Torricella Law filed a separate lawsuit against Charter Flight Group.
That lawsuit against FlyCFG was filed last May.
It also alleged failure to refund an ad hoc charter flight paid for but never delivered.
Baumgarten said he anticipates a default judgment after the defendant failed to respond.
That lawsuit alleged that New Jersey-based Plane Talk Travel, Inc. contracted with the Charter Flight Group for a charter flight from Tel Aviv to Newark.
The travel agency allegedly paid CFG $630,785 for the one-way flight.
The flight was canceled by FlyCFG, per the lawsuit.
Its filing claims, “Pursuant to the terms of the agreement, having failed to provide the charter flight, CFG was obligated to return the entire charter price to Plane Talk Travel.”
It further states, “Despite the fact that Mr. Brown, on behalf of CFG, admitted in writing to PTT that CFG was obligated to return the entire charter price to PTT, CFG has refused to do so, instead returning only $205,785.00 of the charter price to PTT, leaving a balance of $425,000 of the charter price that remains due and owing to PTT, exclusive of interest and attorney’s fees.”
Capital Jets, Inc., a charter operator, recently received a default judgment against Jet Genius Holdings and Charter Flight Group.
The judgment of $17,200, dated Feb. 20, 2025, came after the defendant failed to respond to the lawsuit.
It was filed in the County Court of the 15th Judicial Circuit in and for Palm Beach County on Nov. 20, 2024.
Capital Jets says it flew Charter Flight Group’s customers on N269GJ, a Learjet 60.
The lawsuit included a contract with Brown’s signature dated Oct. 11, 2024.
Charter Flight Group held the booking using a credit card.
Capital Jets alleges funds were not wired before the flight
The private jet charter operator charged the credit card.
It was found that the charge had been declined after the flight had been executed.
Despite several exchanges with Brown, payment was never made, hence the lawsuit.
READ: Ad hoc Private Jet Charter: The anti-jet card solution has risks, too
Another lawsuit by a former partner of the company continues in California.
That lawsuit was initially dismissed.
It was then refiled in August 2023.
Aaron “Angel” Stanz filed the lawsuit in the United States District Court for the Southern District of California.
It names Jordan Brown, Jet Genius Holdings, Inc., Jet Genius Florida Holdings, Inc., C3Jets LLC, Bowman Aviation, Inc., Jet Agency Global, LLC, C3 Limo LLC, Jetcharter.com LLC, DOES 1-20, and Jet Genius Holdings, Inc.
That lawsuit made multiple allegations:
‘Brown also employs a shell game of entities to avoid paying Plaintiff amounts due to him and to avoid other company obligations. In so doing, Brown disregards nearly all corporate formalities and just shifts assets from one entity to another, all for his personal gain and benefit. Brown uses his shell game to evade liability arising from JGH’s business operations. In particular, he seeks to avoid millions in assessed federal excise taxes (FET) related to chartering aircrafts. Brown has failed to timely and fully pay the FET related to JGH’s operations. Instead, he took actions to saddle Plaintiff personally with much of that burden—$1.3 million in unpaid FET—, despite assurances Brown would account for those taxes, while also shifting JGH’s operations and assets to a new entity to avoid payments. Plaintiff believes Brown’s plan is to continue repeating that cycle all for his personal gain. To date, JGH has refused to defend or indemnify Plaintiff for the FET liability, Brown has refused to acknowledge JGH’s obligations to Plaintiff, and Brown has even attempted to use the enormous tax burden as leverage to obtain concessions from Plaintiff.’
Stanz had legal issues in the past for his part.
In May 2018, the SEC charged Stanz with defrauding investors.
It alleged he exaggerated and misleading claims about a medical marijuana company’s business operations and finances.
Stanz settled without admitting or denying the SEC’s allegations.
In 2009, the Illinois Attorney General cited Stanz for “alleged phone cramming operations that placed unauthorized charges on the phone bills of thousands of Illinois consumers, small businesses, and local governments.”
Stanz agreed to cease participating in the alleged deceptive practices as part of the settlement.
Despite the legal issues, Jet Genius recently expanded its sales presence.
In January, Jet Agency opened a sales gallery at 779 Fifth Avenue South in Naples, Florida.
The announcement boasted, “Jet Agency continues to set the standard in private aviation with its straightforward, pay-by-the-hour membership model. Clients enjoy access to a wide range of aircraft with no blackout dates and no hidden costs—ensuring predictable, transparent pricing on every flight.”
It added, “The new Sales Gallery will enable Jet Agency to continue offering personalized services in a relaxed setting while expanding its footprint in Florida.”
According to its website, “Jet Genius’ premier brand, Jet Agency, offers the best membership program available by identifying industry efficiencies and simplifying the membership process without adding ancillary fees. Jet Agency redefines jet membership and sets new standards in the private aviation market.”
On social media, Jet Agency recently claimed it doubled sales in 2024 (above).
Youth Haven, Inc. also thanked Jet Agency on social media for an upcoming sponsorship.
It posted, “Thank you to Jet Agency for their Dream Sponsorship! We’re grateful for their support!”
Jet Agency responded, “We are so proud to partner with Youth Haven, Inc., to help support our community. Thank you.”
Dream Sponsorships are tabbed at $35,000.
In 2023, Jet Agency opened a private lounge at Denver’s Centennial Airport.
Centennial is the 12th-busiest private jet airport in the U.S.
Jet Agency continues to list the location on its website.
The latest lawsuit does not name Jet Agency.
Jet Genius lists its brands as Charter Flight Group, Jet Agency, JetCharter.com, and JetXchange.
FlyCFG and Jet Agency websites list their contact address as 780 Fifth Avenue South, Suite 200, Naples, Florida 34102.
Jet Genius lists the same address.
JetCharter.com lists 1825 NW Corporate Blvd., Suite 110-D80, Boca Raton, Florida 33431, on its website.
The JetXchange website lists an address in Carlsbad, California.
The Jet Genius website credits Brown with growing FlyCFG to “well over $80 million in annual business.”
After publication, Brown added, “Jet Agency and Jetcharter.com are debt-free. CFG ceased conducting flights in mid-December. Once again, CFG looks forward to resolving all litigation.”
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