NIGERIAN entrepreneur Victor Bassey yesterday denied a string of fraud charges relating to his plans to launch a North-East airline.

The 49-year-old appeared in Teesside Crown Court where he pleaded not guilty to 11 charges brought following an investigation by Cleveland Police.

They include four of fraudulent trading, six of obtaining services by deception and a single charge of possessing an article for use in fraud.

They relate to a period between April 1 and October 23 last year, when Mr Bassey launched Excelsis Aviation Ltd.

Plans by Excelsis to run daily flights between Durham Tees Valley Airport (DTVA) and Heathrow were revealed in May last year.

The company said it wanted to offer a luxury service with chauffeur-driven cars delivering passengers to the airport before a fleet of Boeing 747s whisked them to and from the South-East of England.

It was hoped the service would fill the gap left by bmi’s decision to axe its service to Heathrow.

Mr Bassey – who claimed he was “backed by God” – later changed the plans saying Excelsis would run three flights a day from DTVA to London City Airport.

However, the company collapsed last October after all 12 employees resigned, claiming Mr Bassey had failed to pay their wages.

According to the charges, Mr Bassey is said to have defrauded a number of companies and organisations.

These included E-Strands Ltd, which developed the Excelsis website and Hambleton District Council, which rented office space to the company.

The Relocation Group and the Wynyard Group were also identified as creditors.

Mr Bassey is accused of obtaining services by deception from several former Excelsis workers, including chief executive Andreas Blass and former flight operations director Andrew Bray.

The charge of possessing an article for use in fraud relates to a wire transfer document from the Bank of America Merrill Lynch (CRCT) for more than £16,000.

The court heard how Mr Bassey had lived in the US for a number of years, but had also lived in Derbyshire, Nottinghamshire and Newcastle.

The businessman, of Outram Street, Middlesbrough, was released on conditional bail.

No date for the trial, which is expected to last a week, was set.