The architect of a sprawling fake aircraft parts racket has been jailed after a fraud that prosecutors say triggered more than 52 million dollars in losses and forced airlines to pull aircraft from service. The case against Jose Alejandro Zamora Yrala, who ran UK-based supplier AOG Technics, has become a stark warning about how forged paperwork and counterfeit components can slip into the global jet engine supply chain. His sentence closes one chapter, but the disruption and regulatory questions unleashed by the scandal are still unfolding across the aviation industry.
Investigators say Zamora’s business model was built on deception that reached into the heart of commercial fleets powered by popular CFM56 engines, which are widely used on Airbus and Boeing workhorses. Rather than tampering with metal, he allegedly manipulated documents, turning a small trading company into a conduit for suspect parts that reached airlines in Europe, the United States and beyond, leaving carriers, regulators and passengers to grapple with the fallout.
How a DJ turned parts dealer infiltrated airline fleets
According to prosecutors, Jose Alejandro Zamora Yrala used his company AOG Technics to sell aircraft engine components backed by falsified paperwork that made them appear fully certified and traceable. Official statements describe how he forged airworthiness certificates and created fake delivery records so that parts for CFM56 engines, which power large numbers of Airbus and Boeing aircraft, could pass through maintenance shops and into service as if they were legitimate. Investigators say the fraud ran for several years and relied on volume, with hundreds of items moving through the system before red flags began to surface.
Authorities say Zamora did not just alter documents, he invented a corporate world that did not exist. The Serious Fraud Office has described how he fabricated employees, complete with email addresses and signatures, to reassure customers that AOG Technics was a substantial and trustworthy supplier, a pattern set out in an official fraud summary. Reports state that Zamora, a former DJ, used this constructed identity to persuade airlines and maintenance providers that his company could quickly source hard-to-find parts for grounded aircraft, a pitch that exploited the intense pressure operators face to keep jets flying and avoid costly delays.
The 52 million dollar damage trail and grounded jets
Prosecutors told the court that the financial impact of Zamora’s activities reached at least 52 million dollars, a figure that reflects the cost of removing suspect parts, inspecting engines and replacing components across affected fleets. A detailed account of the case says the fraud led to aircraft being grounded while engineers traced where AOG Technics-supplied items had been installed and checked whether engines remained safe to operate. That process forced airlines to juggle schedules, lease replacement capacity and absorb unplanned maintenance bills that rippled through their operations.
Court filings cited by one report say the fraud involved at least 7 million pounds worth of sales, but the downstream impact on airlines, lessors and maintenance firms pushed the total loss estimate much higher. A detailed report on the case explains that the director of a UK aircraft parts company was jailed after a scheme that caused millions in losses and prompted planes to be taken out of service, with prosecutors putting the damage at about 52 million dollars in total, a figure highlighted in a court summary. The same account notes that the scandal has already triggered calls for extra regulation of the used parts market, as airlines seek to avoid a repeat of the disruption.
Inside the forgery operation that fooled airlines
Investigators say the fraud worked because Zamora understood that aviation safety relies on paperwork as much as on engineering. Maintenance providers and airlines depend on certificates, serial number histories and overhaul records to prove that each component meets strict standards. According to official descriptions of the case, Zamora forged those documents, including certificates of release to service, and used them to disguise the true origin of parts that were either unapproved, of unknown provenance or simply not what they were claimed to be. Some certificates were allegedly copied from genuine paperwork, with details altered to match AOG Technics shipments.
Reporting on the case states that some documents were genuine certificates that had been doctored, while others were outright forgeries created with desktop software, a pattern described in detail in a case report. The same account explains that Zamora’s company supplied parts that were supposed to fit CFM56 engines used on smaller jets as well as some larger aircraft, which meant that any suspect component could have been installed in engines operating on busy short-haul routes. A related analysis of the prosecution notes that the Serious Fraud Office set out how Zamora’s falsified certificates and fabricated sales managers were central to persuading buyers that the parts met the standards required for installation on commercial aircraft, a point reinforced in a legal case briefing.
The Serious Fraud Office case and sentence
The criminal investigation into AOG Technics was led by the Serious Fraud Office, which described the case as a significant threat to aviation safety. In its public account, the SFO said Zamora’s scheme deceived the aviation industry about the authenticity and airworthiness of parts, and that his conduct risked serious harm even though no accidents have been linked to the components identified so far. After pleading guilty to fraud offences, Zamora was sentenced to four years and eight months in prison, a term that reflects both the financial scale of the crime and the potential safety implications set out by prosecutors.
The official description of the judgment notes that the SFO secured a four year prison sentence for aircraft parts fraud after detailing how Zamora used forged paperwork and fake employees to sustain his operation, as outlined in the agency’s press account. Separate reporting confirms that the director of the UK company at the center of the scandal was jailed after admitting to the fraud and that confiscation proceedings are expected later this year to try to recover criminal proceeds, a step described in a detailed court report. Legal analysts say the sentence sends a clear message that tampering with the integrity of safety-critical supply chains will attract substantial custodial penalties.
Regulators, airlines and the future of parts oversight
The AOG Technics scandal has intensified scrutiny of how used and overhauled aircraft parts move through the market, particularly when they are sourced from brokers rather than directly from manufacturers. Airlines and maintenance companies are now reexamining their vetting of suppliers, with some reportedly tightening approval processes for smaller traders and increasing the use of direct purchases from original equipment makers. Industry figures have argued that while the existing certification system is rigorous on paper, it can be undermined when a determined fraudster is willing to fabricate entire chains of documentation, as Zamora did through AOG Technics.
Regulators are facing questions about whether additional safeguards are needed to prevent similar schemes, such as more centralized tracking of serial numbers or stronger verification of certificates issued by lesser known repair shops. Reports on the case say the exposure of the fraud has already prompted calls for extra regulation of the aircraft parts market and for closer cooperation between national authorities, a concern highlighted in detailed coverage of the. For airlines, the case is a reminder that the pressure to get an aircraft back in the air quickly can never override the need to interrogate every link in the supply chain, from the metal on the shelf to the signatures on the page.
