According to the FAA, Riggs, 47, obtained his private pilot's license in 1984. Besides the FAA enforcement action and Santa Monica case, court documents show that he served time in Hong Kong for passport fraud. In Missouri, he was convicted several times on theft and fraud charges, including a federal prosecution that resulted in a three-year prison term for wire fraud, bank fraud and passport fraud.
Riggs also has been the target of civil lawsuits, including a pending fraud and breach of contract case filed against him in Los Angeles by 31 people who say they invested about $2.8 million in his production company, Afterburner Films.
...In January, the FAA revoked Riggs' pilot's license. He appealed to the NTSB, which concurred with the FAA in March and ordered the revocation of Riggs' license, noting his "flagrant disregard for the rules."
...According to FAA documents, Sullivan and George Erdel, another FAA inspector, also were concerned that the L-39 Riggs owns was in disrepair -- a potential danger to the public -- and being used improperly as a camera platform for film shoots.
FAA reports show that Erdel and at least two other FAA inspectors discovered that repair records for the plane were incomplete or missing, including documentation that would have shown whether critical time-sensitive parts, such as fuel tanks and turbine blades, were replaced on schedule.
