Man Sentenced to Prison for Selling Counterfeit Aircraft Engine Parts with Forged Safety Certificates
Jose Alejandro Zamora Yrala, a 38-year-old former techno DJ, has been sentenced to four years and eight months in prison for selling nearly £7 million worth of counterfeit aircraft engine parts to major airlines. Operating from his home garage in Virginia Water, Surrey, he ran a company called AOG Technics, which supplied more than 60,000 engine components between 2019 and 2023. These parts, primarily for CFM56 engines used in Airbus A320 and Boeing 737 aircraft, were accompanied by forged Authorised Release Certificates (ARCs) that falsely guaranteed their airworthiness.
Investigators revealed that Zamora Yrala altered genuine safety certificates using his home computer and created fake shipment documents to make it appear that the parts had been purchased directly from legitimate manufacturers. The fraudulent scheme generated over £7.7 million in revenue, with approximately 90% derived from unlawful activity.
The deception came to light when a bolt supplied to Portuguese airline TAP failed to fit an engine. Subsequent checks by manufacturer Safran uncovered forged documentation, prompting alerts from the UK Civil Aviation Authority (CAA), the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), and the European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA). As a result, aircraft worldwide were grounded in August 2023, causing significant disruption and costing airlines an estimated £39.3 million.
Zamora Yrala pleaded guilty to fraudulent trading in December. In addition to his prison sentence, he has been disqualified from serving as a company director for eight years and will face proceedings under proceeds-of-crime legislation. The case has raised serious concerns about aviation safety and regulatory oversight.
Man Sentenced to Prison for Selling Counterfeit Aircraft Engine Parts with Forged Safety Certificates
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