Brunei sultan holds back jet from estranged brother in New York

The Brunei Government said last week that “large sums of money” from the Brunei Investment Agency (BIA), formerly headed by Prince Jefri, were misappropriated to companies also once controlled by the 44-year-old prince, who has fled the tiny oil-rich country.

The 80 million-dollar aircraft landed at the Stewart International Airport 70 miles north of New York city in early August, reportedly in Prince Jefri’s care. Since then, the jet has been left at the tarmac after the Sultan essentially cut its wings.

“TheGovernment of Brunei made a request through the State Department and the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) that permission for the plane to take off not be granted, because ownership and registration of the plane is in dispute,” said an official with the US State Department.

Meanwhile, an FAA spokesperson in New York, Jim Peters, said that the FAA had been requested by the Brunei Government to inspect the plane about three weeks ago. “We found that the aircraft was properly registered in Honduras, that it was in an airworthy condition to fly, and that the pilots hold proper certification from Honduras,” Peters said.“That is the extent of FAA’s role regarding that aircraft,” he stressed.“I have no idea where the plane came from and if Stewart International Airport was the final destination,” he added.