On December 6, Amentum and CWS Asset Management (CWSAMS) will hold an auction for the U.S. Treasury Department that includes the HondaJet formerly owned by Michael Avenatti. A former attorney, Avenatti is in prison, having been convicted of extortion of Nike and for stealing millions of dollars from clients.
The jet was seized at California’s Santa Barbara Municipal Airport by federal agents in April 2019 when Avenatti was indicted on fraud and tax charges. A contractor flew the HondaJet to Chino Airport in Southern California, where it has been stored since. In the indictment, Avenatti was accused of taking $2.5 million from a client’s $3 million settlement and using the money to buy a portion of the HondaJet.
Preview appointments are available on December 4 and 5 and can be arranged through CWSAMS. The HondaJet has 386.5 hours of total flight time and 343 landings with no damage history. The auction notice states, “Engines are started monthly and ran up, with systems cycled…Being that this aircraft has been in storage since April 2019 and not on a Honda maintenance program since that time, there may be Honda-specific inspections and updates that are needed.”
Proceeds from the auction will be deposited in the Treasury Forfeiture Fund, which helps pay for law enforcement activities and compensation for victims of fraud.