The Southwark Crown Court in London has sentenced Jose Alejandro Zamora Yrala to six years in prison. The former DJ, acting as director of the company AOG Technics, pleaded guilty to fourteen counts of fraud. His scheme involved selling counterfeit parts for passenger aircraft engines with falsified documentation, leading to the grounding of hundreds of planes belonging to the world's largest airlines and losses reaching £40 million.

Absolute prison sentence

Jose Zamora Yrala has been sentenced to 6 years in prison by a London court for global documentation fraud.

Gigantic industry costs

Losses incurred by airlines due to aircraft grounding and part replacement are estimated at £40 million.

Massive forgery of certificates

The company AOG Technics sold parts with falsified safety documents, posing as an authorized supplier.

Impact on global giants

The scandal affected major airlines, including Ryanair, American Airlines, and United Airlines.

Jose Alejandro Zamora Yrala, a 36-year-old Venezuelan citizen living in Surrey, has been sentenced to six years in prison for perpetrating one of the most brazen frauds in modern aviation history. For four years, his company AOG Technics supplied components for the world's most popular jet engines, affixing them with forged safety certificates. The convict prepared documentation by copying logos of reputable manufacturers and creating fictitious employees to legitimize the origin of parts that, in reality, lacked proper certification. This scheme directly compromised the technical safety of CFM56 and CF6 engines. In aviation, every bolt must possess a Form 1 (EASA) or 8130-3 (FAA) certificate, which documents the entire history of the component. The lack of reliable documentation makes it impossible to determine the component's safe service life, which can lead to material fatigue and catastrophic engine failure during flight. The scale of financial losses caused by Zamora Yrala is devastating for the transport sector. While the value of the sold parts alone amounted to just under £7 million, the necessity for immediate fleet verification and replacement of suspect components cost airlines over £40 million. The grounding of aircraft affected global giants, including American Airlines, United Airlines, Southwest, and Ryanair. In justifying the sentence, the judge emphasized that the accused was driven by "boundless greed," risking thousands of passengers due to the potential failure of uncertified turbine blades and other critical components. 40 mln GBP — total losses incurred by airlines The investigation conducted by the British Serious Fraud Office in cooperation with international aviation agencies revealed that documents were forged on a massive scale. The prosecution disclosed that Zamora Yrala previously worked as a DJ, which the media widely commented on as a glaring example of the lack of technical competence in a person managing the supply of strategic parts. Although no accidents directly caused by parts from AOG Technics have been recorded so far, experts stress that detecting the scheme prevented a potential tragedy. The six-year prison sentence is intended to serve as a stern warning to other intermediaries operating in the secondary market for aircraft parts. Financial scale of the AOG Technics scheme: Direct profit from fraud: 0 GBP → 6.9 mln GBP; Cost of inspections and replacements: None → 40 mln GBP; Number of falsified parts: 0 → over 1000

Mentioned People

  • Jose Alejandro Zamora Yrala — Former DJ and director of AOG Technics sentenced for serial aviation fraud.