Ex-DJ jailed in London for selling fake parts to airlines

A one-time techno DJ who orchestrated a £40m global fraud selling fake aircraft parts from his garage outside London has been jailed.Engine parts from AOG Technics found their way into planes used by American Airlines, Ethiopian Airlines, Delta and Ryanair before the scam was discovered, leading to regulators issuing safety alerts and planes being grounded.Jose Alejandro Zamora Yrala, director of the firm, was on Monday sentenced at Southwark Crown Court to four years and eight months in prison, after pleading guilty to fraud.An investigation by the Serious Fraud Office found that Zamora Yrala, 38, bought aircraft engine parts including seals, bolts and washers and sold them on to airlines and suppliers around the world, with forged certificates guaranteeing their airworthiness.Between 2019 and July 2023, AOG Technics sold more than 60,000 parts worth £6.9m from a home office in Surrey.Many parts AOG sold were for use in the CFM56 engine, found in the world’s most widely used Airbus and Boeing aircraft models.The SFO said Zamora Yrala used his home computer to doctor genuine certificates and create false delivery records from manufacturers. He also invented fake employees, sending emails and documents signed by nonexistent quality managers.The fraud was stopped in August 2023 when an airline contacted the manufacturer to check the authenticity of an AOG part.Planes around the world were grounded after the UK, US and EU aviation agencies issued safety alerts. Estimated losses to airlines ran to more than £39.3m.Ethiopian Airlines had directly bought more than £1.1m worth of parts from Zamora Yrala. American Airlines did not buy directly from AOG but found that 28 of its engines eventually were affected by the fraudulently certified parts, causing it losses of more than £21m. Ryanair said it found fake parts in two planes, coming via third parties.Zamora Yrala, originally from Venezuela, had worked in the aviation industry from 2011 and set up AOG in 2015 as the sole director, having previously been a techno DJ.The SFO’s director of operations, Emma Luxton, said: “Zamora’s operation risked public safety on a global scale in a way that defies belief.“I’m proud that we have used our specialist skills and expertise to bring him to justice and this criminal operation to the ground as swiftly as possible.”