Brian Hollnagel, owner, president and CEO of BCI Aircraft Leasing of the US, has been indicted by a federal grand jury on charges relating to a commercial bribery scheme, according to the US Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald’s office. Hollnagel has pleaded not guilty to one count of wire fraud, and was placed in custody but later released after paying a $1.7m bond.

The alleged bribery scheme also involved an executive of another aircraft leasing company, Brian Olds, former vice-president of Aircraft Group of AAR Corp., who was also involved in the sale and leasing of commercial aircraft. He was also charged with wire fraud, two counts of tax evasion and filing a false federal income tax return.

The indictment seeks forfeiture of at least $400,000 representing alleged bribe payments from Hollnagel to Olds, as well as unspecified proceeds from the sale or purchase of airplanes by BCI resulting from the alleged bribe payments. The indictment covers a period between 2004 and 2005, when it is alleged that Hollnagel and Olds agreed that in exchange for a bribe payment of approximately $250,000, Olds would use his position at AAR to ensure the purchase from BCI of two commercial aircraft, which were under lease to US Airways, according to the US Attorney’s office.

The tax counts allege that in 2004 and 2005 Olds evaded tax obligations by hiding fraudulent income he received from BCI, and that he filed a false federal income tax return for 2005 that mis-stated the total income he earned from a company he used to receive the BCI payments, as well as overstating the business’s deductions.