Insider found a 2020 lawsuit that names Steele as a defendant alongside Kiwijet, which did not respond to a request for comment. Sheffield Ford, the CEO of Raven Advisory, told the Post that he was not concerned with Steele's background because Kiwijet came recommended from a trusted source.Ī July 2020 search warrant application filed in a Los Angeles federal court shows Nicolas Steele identifying himself as Kiwijet's chief executive, The Post reported. The man who appears to be Kiwijet's CEO was previously under investigation on the suspicion of fraud and has been fined several times by the Federal Aviation Administration, according to the report. The Post said they found through invoices that "Operation Flyaway" gave $2.8 million to the airline company Kiwijet to secure four 280-seat flights. The operation reportedly gave millions to a company run by a man investigated for fraud Raven Advisory is the specific entity that has been making deals with airlines and organizing plans to evacuate people, according to the Post. The fundraiser's page also states that the money would be paid to and distributed by Raven Advisory, a security and intelligence company based in Fayetteville, North Carolina, which did not respond to a request for comment. The page said every $1,500 raised would purchase one seat on a plane out of Kabul. The GoFundMe's description said the mission sought to evacuate "high-value targets," namely Afghans "who have worked as human rights lawyers, champions of Women's and LGBTQ rights, journalists, government liaisons, artists, and interpreters" who face an imminent threat from the Taliban. As of Thursday afternoon, the fundraiser was no longer accepting new donations the last donation was over a month ago. The campaign, announced on August 17 in a "Quentin Quarantino" Instagram post, raised millions to support the Afghan evacuation effort through a GoFundMe fundraiser. This content is not available due to your privacy preferences. A representative for Sayara International confirmed this arrangement to Insider. While the two groups had reached a deal to provide seats for 200 of the campaign's evacuees, some could not get through to the airport, an anonymized source told The Post. "Operation Flyaway" did help evacuate 51 people in Afghanistan after giving $545,000 to the global consulting firm Sayara International, according to the report. But on Sunday, Afghanistan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced that the airport was "fully operational" again and promised full communication with airlines, Reuters reported. Since the Taliban took over Afghanistan's capital Kabul in mid-August, the city's airport has been a chaotic scene as many attempted to evacuate but were unable to secure flights. The operation has poured $3.3 million into flights that were ultimately canceled, and for which the group has not yet received refunds, according to The Washington Post, which examined "financial records, emails, text messages, recordings of calls and interviews." The outlet found that zero Afghans had been evacuated on flights chartered by "Operation Flyaway," a purported charity campaign to rescue people in Afghanistan promoted through the Instagram meme page "Quentin Quarantino," which has over 820,000 followers and is run by 26-year-old Tommy Marcus. Visit Insider's homepage for more stories.Īn Instagram influencer who raised over $7.2 million to evacuate people in Afghanistan during the Taliban's takeover of the country has spent nearly half the money on canceled flights and gave over $2 million to a company that appears to be owned by a man who was under investigation for fraud, according to an investigation published Thursday by The Washington Post. The campaign has spent almost half the money on canceled flights, The Post found. The Washington Post reported that no Afghans were evacuated by Operation Flyaway. iStock / Getty Images PlusĪn Instagram star raised over $7.2 million to evacuate Afghans amid the Taliban takeover. An Instagram influencer who raised over $7.2 million to evacuate Afghans during the Taliban's takeover of the country has spent nearly half the money on cancelled flights, a new report says.
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