An ex-techno DJ has been jailed for selling almost £7m worth of counterfeit aircraft engine parts to major airlines.
Jose Alejandro Zamora Yrala, 38, was sentenced to four years and eight months in prison for the fraud, which risked passenger safety and led to flights around the world being grounded after it was discovered.
Working from his home garage in Virginia Water, Surrey, Zamora Yrala bought engine blades, bolts and washers, before selling them on to major companies with forged safety certificates.
The Serious Fraud Office (SFO) said his operation “risked public safety on a global scale in a way that defies belief”.
After the fraud was discovered, planes around the world were grounded, causing widespread disruption and costing airlines an estimated £39.3m.
Affected carriers included Ethiopian Airlines and American Airlines, although the latter did not buy directly from Zamora Yrala’s company, AOG Technics.
In total, AOG sold more than 60,000 engine parts, worth £6.9m, with forged Authorised Release Certificates (ARCs) – a document guaranteeing airworthiness – between 2019 and 2023, investigators said.
Zamora Yrala used his home computer to doctor genuine ARCs, creating false shipment memos to imply that AOG had purchased the items directly from their manufacturers.
Most of the parts were for CFM56 engines, the world’s most widely used commercial aircraft engine, used in Airbus A320 and Boeing 737 planes.
An example of a CFM56 engine. File pic: Reuters
The sales helped AOG generate more than £7.7m in revenue – 90% of it from fraud – in just four years, investigators said.
The fraud was discovered when a bolt, supplied by AOG to Portuguese airline TAP, would not fit on an engine, the SFO said.
Safran, an aircraft equipment manufacturer, then identified one of the fake certificates and alerted authorities.
It led to planes around the world being grounded in August 2023 after the UK Civil Aviation Authority (CAA), the US Federal Aviation Administration and the European Union Aviation Safety Agency issued safety alerts related to AOG parts.
If the faulty part had not been discovered, it is unclear whether Zamora Yrala would have been caught.
American Airlines was one of the firms affected. Pic: Reuters
Zamora Yrala pleaded guilty in December to fraudulent trading, admitting defrauding customers and potential customers of AOG by falsifying documents about the source and condition of the engine parts.
The court was told it was unclear how many employees AOG had, because only Zamora Yrala, his then wife, her brother and the family’s nanny were on the payroll.
However, customers received emails and documentation purporting to be from other employees called “Michael Smith” and “Johnny Rico”.
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Zamora Yrala and AOG were sued at London’s High Court by manufacturers CFM International, GE Aerospace and Safran in 2023, shortly after European regulators began investigating reports that parts without valid certificates had been found inside CFM56 engines.
Sentencing him at Southwark Crown Court on Monday, Judge Simon Picken said his actions constituted a “more or less complete undermining of a regulatory framework designed to safeguard the millions of people who fly every day”.
Zamora Yrala was also disqualified from acting as a company director for eight years and will face proceeds of crime proceedings later this year.
A spokesman for the CAA said: “Aviation is one of the safest ways to travel and that safety is maintained through constant vigilance.
“The Civil Aviation Authority’s work with the Serious Fraud Office has brought someone responsible for threatening this safety record to justice.
“We acted swiftly to address the issue and ensure those affected were enabled to address any risks.”
American Airlines, Ethiopian Airlines and CFM International were approached for comment, while Sky was unable to reach TAP for comment.
