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M_Roland · September 13th, 2003, 17:24

In the first place, they didn't file bankruptcy. They just locked the doors. The students had to unite, take up money, hire a lawyer, and force them into involuntary Federal Bankruptcy.

Have you ever heard of offshore bank accounts? Have you ever heard of shell companies? The FBI and The Federal Bankruptcy Trustee think that they have both. They had an airline named Discover Air that they were trying to get off the ground. They were taking the students' tuition money out of ATA and pouring it into Discover Air. I don't think anybody ever flew on Discover Air. Not many, anyhow. Then, in researching all the companies they had opened and closed in the last 20 years, I found out that they had TWO companies incorporated named Discover Air: one named Discover Air, Inc. and the other named Discover Air Airlines, Inc. This is how people set up shell companies to funnel money through.

There were some rumors by people who were around their offices in the weeks before they closed, that $100,000 a day was leaving the US by one of their planes and going to an island bank.

By the time they were forced into bankruptcy, there were no assets, in spite of the fact that they took in money for several new students the last week for $50,000 to $60,000 each knowing they were going to close. And their creditors will take issue with Mr. Tenney about his thinking they paid bills with the money. That's not what they were saying at the Creditors' Meeting on May 12, 2003.

That's how they steal. And it's not the first time. They closed a flight school in Dallas, too. They are reputed to have had a school in New Smyrna Beach, Florida, that they may have closed. The one they had in Sanford, Florida, they sold to Comair, but they still had some lawsuits filed on them by students.

I assure you that the FBI would not waste its time investigating if there were not plenty of evidence of wrong-doing. And the FBI has been actively on the case since March, 2003.

Now the FBI is investigating Key Bank Corp., the bank that ATA pushed the students to get their loans with. The bank did some really fishy things in some cases, and out-and-out illegal in other cases, like:
-- Sending money to ATA when students hadn't even signed a contract with ATA.
-- Sending money to ATA from two weeks to two months prior to the students' start dates. (The banks starts building interest on the loan the day the money is sent to ATA.)
-- Approving students for non-secured loans of $50,000 and more immediately (when the same students had been rejected on the bank's internet site) as soon as ATA's rep called them.
--Neglecting to cancel disbursements to ATA when directed to do so by students.
-- Never providing a Truth in Lending Statement to some students.
-- Not performing a thorough investigation of ATA's financial situation when notified by numbers of students having difficulty getting their guaranteed refunds. They had been told by the ATA Treas. it would be a year or more before they could get the refunds.

This is only a partial list of the things Key Bank did.

September 13th, 2003, 17:24	#18
M_Roland Newbie Join Date: Mar 2003 Posts: 16	How did they steal it? In the first place, they didn't file bankruptcy. They just locked the doors. The students had to unite, take up money, hire a lawyer, and force them into involuntary Federal Bankruptcy. Have you ever heard of offshore bank accounts? Have you ever heard of shell companies? The FBI and The Federal Bankruptcy Trustee think that they have both. They had an airline named Discover Air that they were trying to get off the ground. They were taking the students' tuition money out of ATA and pouring it into Discover Air. I don't think anybody ever flew on Discover Air. Not many, anyhow. Then, in researching all the companies they had opened and closed in the last 20 years, I found out that they had TWO companies incorporated named Discover Air: one named Discover Air, Inc. and the other named Discover Air Airlines, Inc. This is how people set up shell companies to funnel money through. There were some rumors by people who were around their offices in the weeks before they closed, that $100,000 a day was leaving the US by one of their planes and going to an island bank. By the time they were forced into bankruptcy, there were no assets, in spite of the fact that they took in money for several new students the last week for $50,000 to $60,000 each knowing they were going to close. And their creditors will take issue with Mr. Tenney about his thinking they paid bills with the money. That's not what they were saying at the Creditors' Meeting on May 12, 2003. That's how they steal. And it's not the first time. They closed a flight school in Dallas, too. They are reputed to have had a school in New Smyrna Beach, Florida, that they may have closed. The one they had in Sanford, Florida, they sold to Comair, but they still had some lawsuits filed on them by students. I assure you that the FBI would not waste its time investigating if there were not plenty of evidence of wrong-doing. And the FBI has been actively on the case since March, 2003. Now the FBI is investigating Key Bank Corp., the bank that ATA pushed the students to get their loans with. The bank did some really fishy things in some cases, and out-and-out illegal in other cases, like: -- Sending money to ATA when students hadn't even signed a contract with ATA. -- Sending money to ATA from two weeks to two months prior to the students' start dates. (The banks starts building interest on the loan the day the money is sent to ATA.) -- Approving students for non-secured loans of $50,000 and more immediately (when the same students had been rejected on the bank's internet site) as soon as ATA's rep called them. --Neglecting to cancel disbursements to ATA when directed to do so by students. -- Never providing a Truth in Lending Statement to some students. -- Not performing a thorough investigation of ATA's financial situation when notified by numbers of students having difficulty getting their guaranteed refunds. They had been told by the ATA Treas. it would be a year or more before they could get the refunds. This is only a partial list of the things Key Bank did.