Cathay Pacific pilot ordered to pay back Air Canada after scamming $36K in free flights

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golden hawk
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Cathay Pacific pilot ordered to pay back Air Canada after scamming $36K in free flights

Post by golden hawk »

http://theprovince.com/news/local-news/ ... 5504da9384

Cathay Pacific pilot ordered to pay back Air Canada after scamming $36K in free flights

A Cathay Pacific pilot who pleaded guilty to scamming Air Canada for free flights has been given a conditional discharge and ordered to pay the airline thousands of dollars as restitution.

In a B.C. provincial court decision issued last month, Marc Anthony ****** was ordered to abide by a number of conditions for six months, perform 20 hours of community work, and pay back Air Canada $36,551.27.

According to court documents, ****** is a 42-year-old Canadian citizen and permanent resident of Hong Kong who works as a pilot for Cathay Dragon, under the Cathay Pacific brand.

In 2012 and 2013, Air Canada participated in a mystery shopper program with Sensors Quality Management Inc. (SQM) in which participating customers, known as “SQM insiders,” were offered partial or full refunds if they booked services through SQM and completed written reviews. The refunds were processed by SQM using redemption codes provided by Air Canada.

Through a contact living in Ontario who was registered as an SQM insider, ****** obtained a free-flight redemption code for Air Canada. He was not registered with SQM himself nor did he ever book any services through the company’s mystery shopper program.

Court documents note that between March 2013 and July 2013, ****** used the code to book four trips for himself and his family, which included 13 legs of flights, some of which were first-class tickets. ****** also used the free code to help friends book flights and in one case, charged a friend $400 to do so.

In total, ****** was responsible for booking $35,996.95 worth of free flights using the code and as a result, collected $554.33 in frequent flyer miles.

“The amount involved in these frauds is not insubstantial,” wrote Judge Patrick Chen. “The sole motivation for these offences was greed. The accused used a fake name and fake address when filling out forms to perpetrate some of the frauds.”

However, Chen noted that there were a number of mitigating factors in his decision, including ******’s guilty plea and remorse, as well as his proactive enrolment in counselling. The initial criminal investigation and the resulting publicity was also a factor in the breakdown of ******’s marriage, leading to “damage to his reputation.”

The judge also noted that ****** had no criminal history, continued to provide financial support to two ex-spouses and their children and had a number of references supporting his character, including one from a street musician he met while working in Nepal who said ****** had paid for the musician’s three children to attend school over the past four years.

As a result, the judge handed down a conditional discharge instead of a sentence, ordering ****** to abide by probation conditions for six months and complete 20 hours of community work. He is also ordered to pay Air Canada a one-time restitution of $36,551.27.

sip@postmedia.com
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Re: Cathay Pacific pilot ordered to pay back Air Canada after scamming $36K in free flights

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Last edited by altiplano on Thu Jan 04, 2018 9:21 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Cathay Pacific pilot ordered to pay back Air Canada after scamming $36K in free flights

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Re: Cathay Pacific pilot ordered to pay back Air Canada after scamming $36K in free flights

Post by confusedalot »

so why is SQM management not held jointly responsible for this issue. Seems to me that they did not perform due diligence in identifying their ''mystery shopper''
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Re: Cathay Pacific pilot ordered to pay back Air Canada after scamming $36K in free flights

Post by ahramin »

yep, if you're poor and steal 36k you're going to jail, but if you're rich and steal 36k well ... you have lost your reputation, so 20 hours of community service should be plenty.
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Re: Cathay Pacific pilot ordered to pay back Air Canada after scamming $36K in free flights

Post by HansDietrich »

Or if you're the CEO of an American bank, you can defraud the American people, get bailed out and buy the Falcon 8X, because the 7X is "so out of style"...
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Re: Cathay Pacific pilot ordered to pay back Air Canada after scamming $36K in free flights

Post by matt foley »

"...no criminal record"? He was in the news a few years ago wanted for fraud in Vancouver. I met this clown 20 years ago and had him figured out, along with most others, within 5 minutes. What a farce.


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LukeDuke
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Re: Cathay Pacific pilot ordered to pay back Air Canada after scamming $36K in free flights

Post by LukeDuke »

Same dude was scamming the aeroplan system 12 years ago. IIRC He's the reason Air Sprint changed their per diem system.

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/frequentl ... s-1.521173
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Re: Cathay Pacific pilot ordered to pay back Air Canada after scamming $36K in free flights

Post by MrWings »

matt foley wrote: Thu Jan 04, 2018 8:34 am "...no criminal record"? He was in the news a few years ago wanted for fraud in Vancouver.
My guess is this why he was wanted then.

https://www.darpanmagazine.com/news/nat ... your-help/
LukeDuke wrote: Thu Jan 04, 2018 9:10 am Same dude was scamming the aeroplan system 12 years ago.
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/frequentl ... s-1.521173
It was not a scam. It was a possibility that AC didn't think anyone would attempt. The AC spokesperson even gives him credit in the article.
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Re: Cathay Pacific pilot ordered to pay back Air Canada after scamming $36K in free flights

Post by matt foley »

He was/is wanted for fraud under $5000 by several individuals having to do with his dealings in around YVR. Same but different. MT is a real piece of work and will keep doing this stuff until he is in jail. Then again after he gets out. And this is only the tip of his scum-baggery.

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Re: Cathay Pacific pilot ordered to pay back Air Canada after scamming $36K in free flights

Post by rigpiggy »

He was a scam artist up in yev, then in tbay, etc........

I didnt even have to read down to his name before I had figured out who it was

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Re: Cathay Pacific pilot ordered to pay back Air Canada after scamming $36K in free flights

Post by Kejidog »

Wow. Scumbag or not. What initative though. I wish i was half as crafty. The airmile thing was brilliant. I mean would anyone feel bad for air canada losing a few points? Almost as good as the guy buying cdn mint currency on a credit card depositing in his account using it topay the credit cards and collecting the miles.
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Re: Cathay Pacific pilot ordered to pay back Air Canada after scamming $36K in free flights

Post by Heliian »

Still lots of scammers out there in aviation. I guess dragon doesn't pay well, or flying a cargo plane full of rubber dog shit out of Hong Kong either.
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Re: Cathay Pacific pilot ordered to pay back Air Canada after scamming $36K in free flights

Post by Bede »

rigpiggy wrote: Thu Jan 04, 2018 2:15 pm He was a scam artist up in yev, then in tbay, etc........

I didnt even have to read down to his name before I had figured out who it was

Douche nozzle
I was trying to figure out why I know the name. I was in both YEV and YQT. Who was he working for in those places
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Re: Cathay Pacific pilot ordered to pay back Air Canada after scamming $36K in free flights

Post by Meatservo »

That young go-getter has "upper management" written all over him!
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Re: Cathay Pacific pilot ordered to pay back Air Canada after scamming $36K in free flights

Post by Blueontop »

LukeDuke wrote: Thu Jan 04, 2018 9:10 am Same dude was scamming the aeroplan system 12 years ago. IIRC He's the reason Air Sprint changed their per diem system.

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/frequentl ... s-1.521173
What did this article have to do with Airsprint or it’s per diems?
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Re: Cathay Pacific pilot ordered to pay back Air Canada after scamming $36K in free flights

Post by LukeDuke »

Article has no mention of Sprint. I recall a story when the airmiles thing came out, someone saying he's the guy that f'ed up expenses on the credit cards. No direct knowledge, just a story. Take it as you will. Kinda like the YEV and YQT stories
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Re: Cathay Pacific pilot ordered to pay back Air Canada after scamming $36K in free flights

Post by matt foley »

He proudly recounted how his days off were spent flying back and forth from YVR to Victoria or Nanaimo(Maybe both, can't remember) on an AirCanada monthly pass. It allowed you to fly unlimited in the 30 days and he racked up Aeroplan miles going back and forth. They canceled the plan after that. Whatever one thinks of his actions, both legal but and illegal, is is up to the individual. But I speak from experience in saying that not one person I know that has also met this turd-rocket thinks anything but the worst of him. And being a standout amongst all the scumbags in aviation is no small feat.

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Re: Cathay Pacific pilot ordered to pay back Air Canada after scamming $36K in free flights

Post by leftoftrack »

Can someone PM me his name. I may have current dealings with him
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Re: Cathay Pacific pilot ordered to pay back Air Canada after scamming $36K in free flights

Post by Stan Darsh »

His name is right there in the article.
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