The UK’s Serious Fraud Office (SFO) has charged the director of MRO parts supplier AOG Technics, Jose Alejandro Zamora Yrala, with fraudulent trading as part of its investigation into a company that sold spares for CF56 and CF6 engines.
Zamora Yrala, the company director, is accused of operating UK-based AOG Technics for a fraudulent purpose, the SFO said May 28. The company’s customers included airlines, maintenance providers and parts suppliers.
The charges allege that from 2019 to 2023 AOG Technics defrauded customers by falsifying documentation that related to the origin, status or condition of aircraft parts.
AOG Technics was at the center of a series of incidents where aircraft in the UK and other countries were grounded in 2023 after the UK aviation regulator, the CAA, together with the U.S. FAA and the European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA), issued safety alerts to airlines that may have bought or installed AOG’s parts.
An SFO investigation, launched shortly afterwards, was transformed into a joint investigation with the Portuguese legal authorities into the supply of suspected fraudulent safety certification and parts.
The Portuguese investigation is ongoing and last week authorities searched 10 locations across Portugal and made three arrests with SFO officers in attendance, the SFO said.
Zamora Yrala will appear at Westminster magistrates court, London, on June 2. Under English law, an appearance at the relatively junior magistrates level is the initial stage before offences deemed sufficiently serious are upgraded to a higher court.
“Planes were grounded, and significant disruption was caused; today’s charges are the outcome of a focused and fast-paced investigation,” SFO director, Nick Ephgrave said. “I’m proud that we’ve acted swiftly, together with our Europeans partners, to bring this important case to charge in just 19 months.”
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