AOG Technics director jailed for 4 years over fake aircraft parts scandal
February 23, 2026
The director of aircraft parts trader AOG Technics has been jailed after he was found to have faked licences for engine components, which left aircraft grounded and airlines facing a £40 million bill.
Jose Alejandro Zamora Yrala admitted to orchestrating a global aircraft engine parts fraud, which involved the creation of forged Authorised Release Certificates (ARCs) for 60,000 aircraft engine parts, most of which were for use in the hugely popular CFM56 engine.
The parts ended up with major airline customers including Ryanair, American Airlines and Ethiopian Airlines.
Zamora Yrala pleaded guilty in December 2025 to fraudulent trading. He appeared at Southwark Crown Court on 23 February and was sentenced to four years and eight months in prison.
AOG Technics fraud “risked public safety”, says Serious Fraud Office
The UK’s Serious Fraud Office, which led the case, said the fraud “risked public safety and caused widespread disruption to the aviation industry”.
Namely, it led to aircraft in the UK and around the world being grounded in 2023 after the UK’s Civil Aviation Authority, the United States’ Federal Aviation Administration, and the European Union Aviation Safety Agency issued safety alerts to airlines that may have bought or installed AOG’s parts.
Airlines and parts manufacturers accrued losses of over £39.3 million.
The CFM56 engine is one of the most widely used across the aviation industry, powering both the Boeing 737 and Airbus A320.
Zamora Yrala, 38, conducted the fraudulent operation between January 2019 and July 2023 from his home office in Surrey, England.
Under the company name AOG Technics, which was wound up in 2023, he doctored genuine ARCs, invented fictitious employees who would then respond to customer queries, and created false shipment memos to convince buyers that they had purchased genuine parts from manufacturers such as Safran.
As a result, the SFO said AOG made more than £7.7 million in revenue over the four year period, with 90% of that from fraud.
How the AOG Technics fake CFM56 engine parts scam was uncovered
His activities were exposed when a TAP Air Portugal engineer asked for proof of the origins of a part, and the manufacturer said the associated documents were fake.
Emma Luxton, director of operations at the SFO, 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.”
EASA safety alert over fake CFM56 engine parts from AOG Technics
When the scam came to light, EASA issued a directive to aircraft owners, operators, maintenance organisations, and distributors to inspect their records to determine whether aircraft or engine parts had been obtained from AOG Technics.
EASA said that for each part obtained, the owner should contact the approved organisation identified on the ARC to verify the origin of the certificate.
“If the approved organisation attests that the ARC did not originate from their organisation, then any affected parts should be quarantined to prevent installation until a determination can be made regarding their eligibility for installation,” EASA said at the time.
“If a part with a falsified ARC is already installed, then it is recommended that the part be replaced with an approved part.”
Featured image: SFO
