Mon, 23 Feb 2026

Mon, 23 Feb 2026 Company director jailed over £7m airline parts fraud

The judge said the actions were a "more or less complete undermining" of rules designed to ensure passenger flights are safe.
Jose Alejandro Zamora Yrala, 38, has been sentenced to four years and eight months in prison for running an aircraft parts company that sold £7m-worth of engine components using falsified documents. Between 2019-2023, Zamora Yrala's company AOG Technics supplied around 60,000 parts for the world's bestselling aircraft engine, CFM56, with forged documentation. The scam came to light when an engineer at TAP airline questioned a part he was trying to fit, revealing that the manufacturer had confirmed its paperwork was fake. The discovery of the fraud led to planes being grounded worldwide so engines could be checked and replaced as necessary, affecting carriers such as Ryanair, American Airlines, and Ethiopian Airlines. Estimated losses were £39.3m. Prosecutors said Zamora Yrala produced fake documents, including Authorised Release Certificates (ARCs), which showed where AOG Technics had obtained the parts from. He also created fake employees, sending emails and documents to customers as part of an illusion of a legitimate business. Only Zamora Yrala, his wife, her brother, and their nanny were ever on AOG's payroll. The origin of the suspect engine parts remains unknown. Alongside his prison sentence, Zamora Yrala was disqualified from acting as a company director for eight years. He will face proceeds of crime proceedings later this year.
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