UK court jails aircraft parts boss for fraud

A UK court on Monday jailed a former company director for using forged documents to sell aircraft parts, causing flights to be grounded and costing the aviation industry millions of dollars.

Jose Alejandro Zamora Yrala, 38, was sentenced to four years and eight months at London's Southwark Crown Court after admitting fraudulent trading between 2019 and 2023 through his company, AOG Technics.

For around four and a half years, "Zamora defrauded customers and potential customers of AOG Technics Ltd by falsifying documentation regarding the origin, provenance, condition and status," of aircraft parts, prosecutor Faras Baloch said on Monday.

Planes in the UK and abroad were grounded in 2023 after British, US and EU aviation regulators issued safety alerts to airlines that may have bought or installed AOG parts.

The court heard that Zamora Yrala's actions resulted in more than 60,000 suspect parts entering the global aviation supply chain.

It resulted in £39.3 million ($53 million) in losses for airlines, including American Airlines and Ethiopian Airlines, as well as manufacturers.

Zamora Yrala, who was the sole director and shareholder of the company, pleaded guilty in December to a single count of fraudulent trading, an offence which carries a maximum sentence of 10 years.

He ran the operation from his home office in Surrey, southeastern England, buying parts such as engine blades, bolts and washers and selling them to airlines using forged authenticity certificates.

Prosecutors said around 90 percent of AOG Technics's revenue relied on fraudulent documents.

Judge Simon Picken described his actions as "a complete undermining of the regulatory framework designed to safeguard the millions of people who fly every day, every year".

The bulk of the financial losses were attributed to American Airlines, which did not purchase the parts directly but sourced them through suppliers.

"Zamora's operation risked public safety on a global scale in a way that defies belief," said Emma Luxton, director of operations at the Serious Fraud Office, which brought the charges.

AOG had supplied parts for the world's best-selling passenger aircraft engine, CFM56, and most-used cargo aircraft engine, CF6, for almost a decade.

CFM56 engines are used on the Airbus A320 and Boeing 737 aircraft.