Santa Barbara Jury Awards $19 Million Against Insurer over Avenatti Jet Seizure

In the years since Michael Avenatti’s jet was seized at the Santa Barbara Airport, his ownership partner in the jet has been fighting with insurer Starr Indemnity & Liability Company over the “physical loss” of the aircraft due to a peril such as “seizure,” which is part of the policy language. Last week, a jury awarded $19 million to the jet’s owner — Passport 420 — in the case against Starr Indemnity, finding that the company had acted in bad faith when it denied the claim.

Avenatti — famous for representing Stormy Daniels in a case against then-President Donald Trump — is currently serving 14 years in federal prison for using his clients’ settlement monies to buy things, such as the small HondaJet HA-420 that was seized in 2019. Avenatti had purchased the aircraft in 2017 with other people in the Passport 420 partnership. Starr argued that because Avenatti had bought his interest in the jet with stolen money, it was not under an obligation to honor the insurance policy.

Passport 420’s attorneys, Lawrence Conlan and Richard Lloyd of Cappello & Noël, cited the insurance policy in the complaint: “the insuring agreement … provides coverage up to $10 million for the “physical loss of … any scheduled aircraft…. during the policy arising out of any of the following perils: confiscation, nationalization, seizure….”

In finding Starr liable for its bad faith actions, the Santa Barbara jury awarded an additional $15 million in damages to Passport 420, which also received the $4 million it had paid for the jet.

“Starr was dead wrong to argue that the claim was not covered and that it acted reasonably,” Lloyd said in a press release. Conlan added, “The message is clear, for those who try to hide their own misconduct behind Avenatti’s bad acts, there is no shelter.”

Starr Indemnity did not respond to requests for comment.