Bank, lending company’s owner dispute status of private jet

By Steve Green

Monday, June 15, 2009 | 2:04 a.m.

Aspen Financial owner Jeff Guinn and Community Bank of Nevada are sparring in court over the bank's effort to repossess an airplane it says is Jeff Guinn's private jet.

The bank said in a lawsuit May 29 that the 1984 Bombardier Challenger jet secures a past-due loan with a balance of $5.44 million owed by Coronado Nevada LLC, which is managed by Jeff Guinn.

Community Bank said it's concerned the plane may not be insured and that it doesn't know its location.

“Coronado Nevada is wrongfully concealing the location, insurance status and operating status of the aircraft from Community Bank,” the bank charged.

But attorneys for Coronado Nevada and Guinn said the suit should be dismissed so the plane loan can be addressed along with other loans in a lawsuit Guinn and others filed against Community Bank earlier this year.

That suit claims Community Bank reneged on a promise to finance $2.8 million in tenant improvements for a Henderson shopping center and that the bank has refused to renegotiate other loans because of the default of the $29 million shopping center construction loan -- charges denied by the bank.

“There are no circumstances present that justify Community Bank's decision to circumvent the pre-existing case and instead seek (such) relief from this court,” Coronado Nevada LLC said in court papers.

Coronado and Guinn also said in their June 4 filing that the plane is fully insured. Their brief didn't address the whereabouts of the aircraft.

The bank responded last week, saying it wasn't reassured by Guinn's statement because it has not seen proof of insurance and cannot insure the aircraft itself without knowing its location and operational status.

“Unless Community Bank gains immediate possession of the aircraft, that collateral is in immediate danger of being moved to another state, concealed, and is at risk of harm from being uninsured. Any harm to the aircraft while it is uninsured will be devastating to Community Bank's interest in this loan, since the aircraft is the only collateral and since Coronado Nevada is already in default for failure to pay since Jan. 13, and would therefore apparently not be able to make Community Bank whole with money damages,” the bank said in a court filing.