HondaJet Said To Be Valued At About $4.5 Million

Federal authorities have seized an HA-420 HondaJet belonging to embattled lawyer Michael Avenatti in connection with a pending criminal case in Los Angeles, CA.

Fox New reports that the jet was seized at Santa Barbara airport after a judge issued a federal warrant for the plane. It was flown to San Bernardino County airport Wednesday morning.

Avenatti was one of the co-owners of the plane, which is said to be valued at about $4.5 million. Contacted by Fox News, Avenatti said he has not used the plane in almost a year and gave up his interest in the aircraft last year. He "couldn't care less," he told Fox.

Federal court records showed that the airplane was registered to Passport 420, a company co-owned by Avenatti. The government complaint indicated that Avenatti's wife, Lisa-Storie Avenatti, said that there were two aircraft, one owned by Avenatti & Associates and the other through Passport 420. Each had an estimated value of $4.5 million, according to the documents.

Avenatti said that he had never owned two planes either directly or indirectly, and "any claim to the contrary is complete nonsense."

Avenatti has been accused of failing to pay income taxes on nearly $18 million earned since 2010. Authorities are also investigating his law firm, which reportedly showed deposits of $38 million but filed no tax returns.

The warrant was under seal. The jet is being held by Threshold Aviation at Chico Municipal Airport in California.

(Image from file. Not Avenatti airplane)

FMI: Source report