Pilot Flight Academy insolvency lawsuit

Espen Høiby, brother of Norway’s Queen Mette-Marit, is facing a lawsuit from approximately 60 former students of the insolvent Pilot Flight Academy at Torp Airport. The students, supported by the union Parat, are seeking damages for prepaid tuition fees totaling roughly 250,000 Norwegian kroner per person that were lost when the academy declared bankruptcy.

The legal action involves allegations of fraudulent bankruptcy. While Høiby’s defense maintains he held no formal board mandate and did not represent the company to students, investigators have suggested he controlled the operation through a network of companies. The insolvency administrator previously referred the case to the Sør-Øst police district due to suspicions of fraud, noting that the bankruptcy filing should have occurred much earlier.

Recent developments highlight the scale of the academy’s collapse, which left approximately 160 students without training and 40 employees jobless. A report from the bankruptcy administrator has raised suspicions of irregularities, suggesting the academy may have continued collecting fees even as its financial situation became unsustainable. This legal challenge arrives amid heightened scrutiny of the Norwegian Royal Family, following previous controversies involving the Queen Consort’s son, Marius Borg Høiby.