Plane Is Missing, Payments Have Stopped

The government of Canada is looking for a particular Bombardier Global 6000 ... tail number ZS-OAK ... that was purchased by the Gupta family in South Africa and is now in default.

MSN reports that the plane was purchased using a $41 million loan from Export Development Canada, or EDC, Canada's state-owned export-import bank. EDC was working with Bombardier to secure the sale of the airplane.

The the Gupta family may not have been the best bet for the loan. They are allegedly deeply connected to the corruption that forced South African President Jacob Zuma out of office, and EDC says that the family defaulted on the loan in October with an outstanding balance of $27 million. But they kept the jet.

The EDC recently applied to a South African court in an effort to ground the jet, saying that one of the family members, Ajay Gupta, may be using it to avoid an arrest warrant. "There is a very real concern that the aircraft may be used to escape justice or for some unlawful means," the bank told the court.

But before it can be grounded, the plane has to be found. While it has been spotted recently in such locations as Russia, India and Dubai, it's tracking information has been blocked "per request form the owner/operator," according to the website FlightAware.

Toronto aviation lawyer Ehsan Monfared told MSN that the government will likely get the plane back eventually. An international agreement called the Cape Town Treaty makes it possible for an aircraft to be seized by lenders in any country that is a party to the treaty. Monfared said that the only way that Canada would lose their investment is if the Gupta's dispose of the plane in some other way.

(Image from file)

FMI: Original Report