Pair Accused of Scamming NJ-Based Air Charter Firm

Federal prosecutors in New Jersey say an Ohio man and a Florida man posed as high-level executives with a financial firm to improperly obtain charter jet flights and limo rides.

Forty-five-year-old Dante Dixon of Miami and 32-year-old Christopher Henderson of Akron were arrested Monday in Ohio by federal agents. Both men face wire fraud charges.

Prosecutors say the two men made at least four flights between May and June through Jet Aviation, a major business aviation provider based at Teterboro Airport. They paid for the flights by tapping into a sham $350,000 line of credit issued by the company.

The scheme unraveled in June, when a Jet Aviation employee contacted the unnamed company where the men supposedly worked and learned that neither man was employed by the firm.

Officials said Jet Aviation was never paid for $164,911 in charter flights or $10,879 in limousine services.

Federal prosecutors said the two also used their fake corporate credentials at a Tiffany store in Florida and at a Miami hotel. They allegedly charged $19,991 in watches, sunglasses, sterling silver and leather business card holders, and men's cologne from Tiffany, and $25,466 in overnight hotel stays.

Both men made their initial court appearances in Ohio on Monday. They were ordered held until they can be extradited to New Jersey.

If convicted, Dixon and Henderson each face up to 20 years in prison and $250,000 in fines.

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