MYRTLE BEACH — A title sponsor of Myrtle Beach’s PGA Tour event abruptly shut down in September and now faces allegations of fraud, including that the company used the golf tournament and ties to A-list celebrities to mask its financial struggles.
The accusations come from three federal lawsuits filed against Englewood, Col.-based ONEflight International. The cases followed the luxury travel company’s mid-September announcement that it was halting all flight activity for at least 30 days to conduct a “comprehensive evaluation of our current operation and status.”
A company representative could not be reached for comment.
Specializing in private jet travel, ONEflight is accused of misleading customers and being unable to return an estimated $150 million in deposits, according to court records.
The three plaintiffs spent more than $1 million on prepaid, non-refundable deposits for flight hours, according to court records. They’ve accused the company of presenting customers with the illusion of a thriving business while actually hemorrhaging cash and being unable to pay direct carriers for customers’ flights.
“Defendants used new customer deposits to fund existing obligations to earlier customers, vendors, and charter operators — the hallmark of a Ponzi scheme,” California customer Jeremy Ricks stated in a suit filed Sept. 20.
The ONEflight Myrtle Beach Classic first round was held on May 8, 2025, at the Dunes Golf and Beach Club in Myrtle Beach.
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A key sponsorship deal
ONEflight was introduced as the Myrtle Beach Classic’s co-title sponsor in February 2025. The company joined Visit Myrtle Beach, the tourism arm of the Myrtle Beach Area Chamber of Commerce.
Despite the latest allegations about the company’s financial state, tournament organizers maintain they are moving forward with the 2027 event.
Jack Milko, a tournament spokesman, told The Post and Courier on Sept. 30 that organizers are “committed to the continued success” of the Classic, which is slated to take place May 13-16 at The Dunes Golf and Beach Club.
Tourism officials expressed similar confidence about the Classic.
“Visit Myrtle Beach is excited to continue its sponsorship of the tournament in 2027 and looks forward to working with the PGA Tour, Dunes Golf and Beach Club, SportFive and the local community to build upon the success the event brings to our region,” said Stuart Butler, president of Visit Myrtle Beach, in a prepared statement.
The event has been a breakout success, last year generating nearly $16 million in estimated economic impact. More than half of its 40,000 spectators hail from outside of South Carolina, according to tourism officials.
Myrtle Beach Area Chamber of Commerce’s Tracy Conner, ONEflight International’s Ferren Rajput, PGA Tour’s Kelly Jensen and Myrtle Beach Classic’s Darren Nelson stand alongside each other after a news conference announcing ONEflight International’s co-title sponsorship on Feb 18, 2025.
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From fanfare to fallout
ONEflight’s entry into the Grand Strand golf scene came with fanfare.
For the 2025 event, actors Kevin Costner and Kurt Russell played in the celebrity-studded pro-am. ONEflight’s three-year sponsorship was touted as a win for both the event and the region.
“We’re hoping to make this even greater in the upcoming years,” ONEflight CEO Ferren Rajput said at a news conference announcing the deal. “With my connection with celebrities, our brand ambassadors, I’d like to make this shine on the map. We have Pebble Beach on the West Coast. Why don’t we have a Pebble Beach called Myrtle Beach on the East Coast?”
Kevin Costner laughs with the crowd about a missed shot from the bunker in the ONEflight Myrtle Beach Classic Pro-Am on May 7, 2025, at the Dunes Golf and Beach Club in Myrtle Beach.
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Rajput has said his company’s revenues jumped to $232 million in 2025 — a 90 percent year-over-year boom he credited partly to sports sponsorships, according to court records.
To bolster its profile, attorneys said Rajput and his team got involved with McLaren Racing’s Formula 1 team and TGL — a popular indoor golf league formed partly by Tiger Woods and Rory McIlory.
While the company’s high-profile sports sponsorships projected a prosperous image, the lawsuits paint a different portrait: a company spiraling in recent months.
Kurt Russell plays in the ONEflight Myrtle Beach Classic Pro-Am on May 7, 2025, at the Dunes Golf and Beach Club in Myrtle Beach.
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ONEflight encouraged customers to make prepaid, non-refundable deposits for flight hours despite being unable to deliver that time, according to the complaints.
All three suits name the company as well as Rajput as defendants. Ricks is also suing Mark Dismuke, ONEflight’s executive vice president of sales, and John Crandall, a sales agent who communicated with Ricks, according to his complaint.
Ricks alleges the company pressed him to spend more for additional deals. The company’s sales team “made significant mention” of the high-profile sports sponsorships, including the golf tournament and its roster of celebrity brand ambassadors.
Similar claims were lodged against ONEflight by Kamran and Shari Jinnah of Florida, who filed a lawsuit Sept. 25, and the Illinois audio-visual firm Five Star, which did so Sept. 22.
ONEFlight’s marketing materials could be taken directly from images of HBO’s “The White Lotus.” A glass of red wine next to artisanal cheese. An uplit cabana overlooking a swimming pool. Partnerships with Aquazeal yacht charter and the Michael Mondavi family estates.
“OFI coupled these marketing materials with direct, express representations of financial strength that were knowingly false,” Jinnah’s court filing says.
Celebrities use the helicopter to come and go from the ONEflight Myrtle Beach Classic Pro-Am on May 7, 2025, at the Dunes Golf and Beach Club in Myrtle Beach.
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Records included in the court filings highlight the high-end offerings:
ONEflight International’s clients could pay between $50,000 and $160,000 for memberships — along with a $15,000 initiation fee — to access hassle-free, luxury air travel.
An extra $39,500 or $79,500 payment would unlock club services that brought catered meals, executive car service and face time with Hollywood and sports legends.
“The purpose of OFI’s extensive marketing efforts was to inspire public trust and confidence in OFI’s brand and project the image of a thriving corporate enterprise, when, in reality, unbeknownst to its customers, they were subsidizing OFI’s extravagance with their prepaid funds,” one of the lawsuits stated.
Chesson Hadley of Raleigh, North Carolina, yanks cables in a television tower on the ninth hole in the ONEflight Myrtle Beach Classic on May 11, 2025, at the Dunes Golf and Beach Club in Myrtle Beach.
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A spiraling enterprise
One problem for ONEflight was the U.S. war with Iran, which raised the cost of air travel and charter operations, according to Ricks’ complaint. The issue was the prepaid flight hours were purchased at a set rate, regardless of the increasing costs for the company.
An internal resignation email from a departing ONEflight executive cited in the Jinnahs’ lawsuit revealed the company was “not being honest regarding … financial and operational position” and was having trouble paying operators.
In Five Star’s case, it spent nearly $800,000 with ONEflight between March 2023 and May 2024, according to its lawsuit. ONEflight sales personnel asked the company for a $250,000 deposit just a week before its shutdown while already holding $223,000, records show.
As its financial position eroded, ONEflight stacked 35 percent surcharges on its reservations, but quickly pulled back after customer backlash, according to court filings.
Hanno Uys, ONEflight’s chief financial officer and a South African native, has been in Immigration and Customs custody since Sept. 3, according to court records.
ONEflight is not publicly traded and has no SEC filings.
In a brief message on its website, the company wrote, “We sincerely appreciate your patience and understanding.”