The Dominican Republic's Civil Aviation Board (Junta de Aviación Civil - JAC) has requested Interpol and the national Attorney General to arrest and extradite Venezuelan businessman Simeon Garcia, the owner of the Grupo Condor whose assets have included PAWA Dominicana as well as Aserca Airlines, SBA Airlines, and LTA - Linea Turistica Aereotuy in Venezuela.
Garcia is accused of incurring a USD3 million debt in the Dominican Republic as an owner of PAWA and subsequently escaping abroad to avoid repayment.
"What this gentleman has done is to mock Dominican authorities promising several times that he would come to the country to pay the debt in the millions, but everything has been a farce," JAC President Luis Ernesto Camilo told the Dominican Today.
The Curacao Chronicle reported in November that Garcia and PAWA were facing charges of tax fraud, money laundering, conspiracy for fraud, and corruption, as well as others related to the unorderly cessation of operations in early 2018.
PAWA had reportedly failed to fulfil its financial and tax filing obligations since March 2017. As of January 2018, when the carrier's Operator's Licence was suspended, PAWA's debts to the state amounted to USD1.82 million.
The Dominican Republic's civil aviation authority (Instituto Dominicano de Aviación Civil - IDAC) subsequently seized all PAWA's assets, including one MD-82, four MD-83s, and one MD-87. SBA Airlines surrendered its AOC at the end of January this year, while Aserca Airlines followed in May. LTA, another airline owned by Garcia, went into liquidation in September.
