The UK Serious Fraud Office (SFO) has charged AOG Technics director Jose Alejandro Zamora Yrala with fraudulent trading as part of its investigation into the bogus parts scandal.
The scandal arose in 2023 with the company accused of supplying parts for aircraft engines CF56 and CF6 with falsified documentation to MROs.
Yrala is accused of operating AOG Technics “for a fraudulent purpose”, the fraud office said in a statement. The company's customers had included airlines, MROs, and parts suppliers.
“From 2019 to 2023, the company allegedly defrauded customers by falsifying documentation that related to the origin, status, or condition of aircraft parts,” read the SFO in a statement.
“Planes were grounded, and significant disruption was caused, today's charges are the outcome of a focussed and fast paced investigation,” said SFO director Nick Ephgrave.
The UK's Civil Aviation Authority (CAA), the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), and the European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) issued safety alerts to airlines related to GE engines as a result of the bogus parts, leading to grounded aircraft.
The SFO launched an investigation into the company soon after, before conducting a joint investigation with Portuguese authorities.
The Portuguese investigation is ongoing and authorities were said to have searched 10 locations across the country and made three arrests with SFO officers in attendance.
In December 2023, the SFO said it had arrested one individual following a dawn raid in relation to the bogus parts scandal where they were taken for questioning. SFO investigators, accompanied by officers from the National Crime Agency, also revealed that they had seized material from a site in Greater London.
Following the scandal, the Aviation Supply Chain Integrity Coalition was formed in February 2024, made up senior executives from Airbus, American Airlines, Boeing, Delta Air Lines, GE Aerospace, Safran, StandardAero, and United Airlines.
“We were able to stop a rogue actor and quarantine the parts [in 2023] thanks to swift action from the aviation industry, but more is needed to stop anyone who tries to take a shortcut in the future,” said the coalition's co-chair and former US National Transportation Safety Board chairman Robert Sumwalt.
The coalition was largely responded to with positivity, with many industry specialists highlighting the need for safety in the sector and also underpinned the collaborative nature of aviation. However, some noted potential unintended consequences that could restrict legitimate used service materials (USM) parts, particularly in the engine space.
Safran CEO Olivier Andries had estimated in its third quarter earnings results in 2023 that around 145 engines had been impacted by the suspected parts — less than 1% of the CFM engines at the time.
Yrala will appear at Westminster Magistrates Court on June 2, 2025.