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Losses of Victims Estimated at $100,000 : Suspect Held in Bogus Airline Scam

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Times Staff Writer

A North Hollywood man who allegedly set up a bogus airline agency and bilked would-be pilots, flight attendants and other airline personnel out of an estimated $100,000 was arrested Friday on 108 criminal charges, said Los Angeles City Attorney James K. Hahn.

U.S. Postal Service inspectors arrested Kevin Von Feldt, 36, at his home after Hahn filed a misdemeanor complaint charging Von Feldt with 78 counts of grand theft, 25 counts of making misleading statements and five counts of issuing bad checks.

Von Feldt, who was being held in Los Angeles County Jail in lieu of $25,000 bail, was scheduled to be arraigned Monday in Los Angeles Municipal Court.

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Hahn said Von Feldt is president of Hawaiian Pacific Airlines, a company that he set up in 1983 in an office at 9200 Sunset Blvd., which ceased operating earlier this year after city, state and federal authorities began investigating him.

Fee Schedule Told

“Von Feldt advertised for pilots, flight attendants and other airline personnel and then charged them fees ranging between $850 and $10,000 for training which he guaranteed would lead to jobs with Hawaiian Pacific Airlines,” Hahn said in a statement announcing the arrest. “The problem, however, was that Hawaiian Pacific Airlines never owned an airplane and never had any operating permits from federal authorities to operate an air carrier.

“In fact, as far as we can determine, Von Feldt never had anything more than an office on Sunset Boulevard.”

Aside from attempting to mislead would-be employees, Von Feldt also advertised in newspapers, offering flights to Honolulu. He took reservations and sold tickets to people who responded, according to Hahn.

“But he had no planes or any federal operating permits, so the Civil Aeronautics Board sued him,” Hahn said.

As a result of that lawsuit, Von Feldt’s bank accounts were frozen and a court order was issued in December, 1983, barring him from representing his company as an airline, said Deputy City Atty. Katherine MacKenzie, who handled the criminal case.

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Reopens Operations

In June, 1985, Von Feldt reopened Hawaiian Pacific Airlines, advertising in newspapers across the country for pilots, flight engineers and flight attendants, MacKenzie said.

Applicants for flight attendant and pilot jobs received three weeks of training at a facility at Los Angeles International Airport. “But none of them even got on a plane for any of the so-called training,” the city attorney said.

After complaints by those who said they were victims of a swindle, U.S. Postal Service inspectors launched a mail fraud investigation and obtained a warrant to freeze Von Feldt’s bank account containing $145,000.

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