Grounded: Ponzi Lawsuits The Myrtle Beach Classic’s Co-Title Sponsor ONEflight Has Stopped Flying. What Now?

Posted Thursday, October 1, 2026 3:06 pm

David Hucks (via MyrtleBeachSC)

For two springs, the name in front of the Grand Strand’s only PGA Tour event has belonged to a private jet company most Horry County residents had never heard of before February 2025. In mid-September, that company stopped flying.

ONEflight International, the Colorado charter broker that shares top billing on the ONEflight Myrtle Beach Classic with Visit Myrtle Beach, told customers it was halting all flight activity for at least 30 days while it reviewed its business [Private Jet Card Comparisons, 2026]. Within two weeks, at least three customers had sued the company in federal court in Colorado. One complaint goes further than unpaid flights: it alleges the company’s high-profile sponsorships, PGA Tour events included, were part of a campaign to make a struggling business look healthy.

None of those allegations has been proven in court. But for people who live here, the more pressing question is not whether out-of-town jet card holders get their money back. It is what this means for a tournament our tourism leaders have sold as an economic engine, and how closely anyone looked at the company before attaching its name to Myrtle Beach.

What happened at ONEflight

ONEflight does not own or fly its own fleet. It is a broker. Customers prepay for future flying through “jet cards,” with a minimum deposit of $100,000, and the company pays independent charter operators after each trip [AeroCorner, 2026]. That model works as long as money keeps moving in the right order. When it doesn’t, prepaid customers are left holding a balance with no airplane attached.

The company confirmed the flight pause on September 16, saying it would last 30 days or until further notice [Private Jet Card Comparisons, 2026]. The industry publication that broke the story estimated that more than $150 million in prepaid customer funds could be at risk. That figure is an estimate drawn from the company’s sales volume, not a confirmed loss, and CEO Ferren Rajput acknowledged that ONEflight does not hold customer money in escrow [AeroTime, 2026].

The warning signs had been building for weeks. In August, the company told cardholders it would add a 35 percent surcharge to flights booked at contracted rates, blaming industry cost pressures, before reversing course [AeroCorner, 2026]. In early September, an internal email from a company human resources executive said Rajput was working to fix financial and operational problems that had developed under a former chief financial officer [Private Jet Card Comparisons, 2026]. The same outlet reported that ONEflight had been borrowing against future receivables, including a $2.29 million sale of future receipts to a funding company in July. Some charter operators said the broker had fallen behind on payments; others said they had been paid without trouble [AeroTime, 2026].

On paper, the company looked like it was booming. ONEflight reported $232 million in 2025 revenue, a 90 percent jump over the prior year [AeroTime, 2026]. Rapid growth paired with prepaid money and no escrow is exactly the combination that can hide a cash problem until it can’t be hidden anymore.

The lawsuits, and where Myrtle Beach comes in

The sharpest of the complaints comes from customer Jeremy Ricks. According to WPDE’s reporting on the filing, Ricks alleges that from May 2025 through at least September 2026, company representatives repeatedly assured him ONEflight was financially sound when he asked directly about its solvency. The suit claims the company used new customer deposits to cover obligations to earlier customers, vendors and operators, describing that practice as “the hallmark of a Ponzi scheme” [WPDE, 2026].

The complaint also alleges that some of that new money funded an expanding marketing push, naming sponsorships of the McLaren Formula 1 team and PGA Tour events, intended to project prosperity and draw in more deposits [WPDE, 2026]. Private Jet Card Comparisons reported that the filing singles out the Myrtle Beach Classic deal specifically, alleging it came at a time when ONEflight was already struggling to pay vendors and charter operators [Private Jet Card Comparisons, 2026].

Two other suits followed. One customer facing a loss of roughly $223,000 named Rajput personally and alleged the company sought a $250,000 cash payment days before the pause [Private Jet Card Comparisons, 2026]. A third, filed by a couple who say they paid nearly $745,000 this year, lists an unused account balance of more than $815,000 [Private Jet Card Comparisons, 2026].

It is worth being precise here. These are claims made by people who say they lost money, written by their lawyers. ONEflight’s only public response so far has been the website notice announcing the pause [WPDE, 2026]. But the timeline matters locally: the Ricks complaint places the alleged pattern of reassurances beginning in May 2025, the same month ONEflight’s name first appeared on the trophy at the Dunes Golf and Beach Club.

What it means for the tournament

The Classic arrived in 2024 under a four-year agreement that ends after the 2027 event. ONEflight signed on in February 2025 as co-title sponsor for three years [WMBF, 2025], which means its deal was built to run through the end of the current contract. The 2027 tournament is already on the calendar for May 13–16 at the Dunes Club [Play Golf Myrtle Beach, 2026].

As recently as May, Rajput was the event’s loudest booster. He told a local golf publication he intended to keep the partnership going as long as possible and hoped Myrtle Beach would eventually earn its own standalone week on the tour schedule [On The Green, 2026].

The local co-sponsor is now choosing its words carefully. In a statement to WPDE, the Myrtle Beach Area Chamber of Commerce said Visit Myrtle Beach plans to continue its sponsorship in 2027 and work with the PGA Tour, the Dunes Club, tournament operator SportFive and the community on the event [WPDE, 2026]. Notice what the statement does not mention: ONEflight.

There is a twist that may soften the blow. The PGA Tour is overhauling its schedule for 2028 and eliminating the opposite-field format the Classic currently uses [On The Green, 2026]. Organizers had feared that staying on tour would require a much bigger purse and far more sponsor money. But after tour CEO Brian Rolapp outlined a new two-tier structure in June, a local golf publication reported that Myrtle Beach’s sponsors may not need to contribute much additional funding to host an event in 2028 [On The Green, 2026]. Tournament leaders are scheduled to meet with tour officials in November.

In other words, the financial hole ONEflight could leave may be smaller than it would have been a year ago. The reputational problem is a different matter. Walking into a negotiation over the event’s future with a title partner tied up in federal fraud allegations is not the position anyone wanted.

The questions residents should be asking

Tourism leaders have measured this tournament in big numbers. The chamber credited the 2024 event with more than 40,000 spectators and $15.4 million in economic impact [On The Green, 2025], and WPDE later reported the 2026 event topped $45 million in impact with about $200,000 going to local charities [WPDE, 2026]. Those figures are the justification for the public attention and civic goodwill the event receives. They also make it fair to ask how its partners are chosen.

Visit Myrtle Beach is the chamber’s tourism marketing arm [Post and Courier, 2025], and the other primary backers include the South Carolina Department of Parks, Recreation and Tourism [On The Green, 2026]. To the extent public tourism dollars help support this event, residents are entitled to answers to several questions:

Did ONEflight pay its full sponsorship obligations for 2025 and 2026? A former company CEO has estimated the broker may owe as much as $50 million, including unpaid sponsorships to the Chicago Cubs and Tampa Bay Buccaneers [Private Jet Card Comparisons, 2026]. Whether Myrtle Beach is on that list has not been publicly addressed.
What vetting took place before the deal? The sponsorship was announced as a verbal agreement to Myrtle Beach City Council before the contract was finalized [WBTW, 2025]. What financial review did the chamber, SportFive or the PGA Tour conduct?
Will the ONEflight name stay on the 2027 event? And if the sponsor cannot pay, who covers the difference?
Were local businesses left unpaid? Hotels, caterers, aviation services and vendors who worked tournament week deserve to know whether any invoices are outstanding.

These are not accusations against local officials. They are the ordinary questions any public-facing partnership should be able to answer, and the answers will shape whether residents trust the next big-name sponsor that arrives with celebrities and promises.

Conclusion

ONEflight’s announced 30-day pause expires in mid-October. Several things could happen next: the company could resume flights, restructure, or end up in bankruptcy court, where industry reporting notes prepaid jet card holders would stand in line as unsecured creditors [Private Jet Card Comparisons, 2026]. Any of those outcomes will ripple back to the Grand Strand, either through the tournament’s finances or simply through the name on the leaderboard.

The Myrtle Beach Classic has given this area something real: national television exposure, packed galleries at the Dunes and money for local charities. That success is exactly why it deserves a partner whose finances can withstand scrutiny. ONEflight’s sponsorship was presented as proof that Myrtle Beach had arrived on the big stage. How local leaders handle its unraveling will say more about whether we belong there.

Horry County Uncovered will keep following the lawsuits, the company’s status after the pause ends, and the November talks over the tournament’s future.