Jose Alejandro Zamora Yrala, a 38-year-old former techno DJ turned aviation broker, has been sentenced to four years and eight months in prison for running a reckless and far-reaching aircraft parts fraud that defrauded airlines of £39.3 million. Operating from his garage in Virginia Water, Surrey, Zamora Yrala sold nearly £7 million of aircraft engine components using forged certificates and falsified documentation, according to reporting from Times UK.
Southwark Crown Court heard that Zamora Yrala’s operation, under the company AOG Technics, spanned from January 2019 to July 2023. During that time, he sold more than 60,000 parts to 50 clients, including airlines, maintenance operators, and engine suppliers. Components included bolts, engine blades, seals, washers, and dampers. Almost 90 percent of AOG’s turnover in that period came from these fraudulent transactions. The Serious Fraud Office (SFO), which investigated the case, described the scam as one that “risked public safety on a global scale in a way that defies belief.”
The fraud came to light when an engineer from TAP Air Portugal attempted to install a part on a CFM56 engine and found that it did not fit. Safran, the manufacturer, confirmed that the accompanying certificate—intended to guarantee the airworthiness of the component—was fake and that it had never supplied the part to AOG. This triggered investigations by global aviation regulators, ultimately revealing the scale of the scam.
TAP Air Portugal alone suffered losses of €6.6 million (£5.8 million) after discovering that fraudulent parts had been installed in 52 aircraft engines, including those of other client airlines such as easyJet. American Airlines, the world’s largest carrier, also reported losses of £23 million from parts purchased via suppliers who had unknowingly dealt with AOG. Judge Simon Picken described these losses as “the bulk of the financial damage” caused by Zamora Yrala’s operation.
Zamora Yrala admitted one charge of fraudulent trading in December 2023, acknowledging that he falsified documentation relating to the origin, provenance, and condition of aircraft parts. Sentencing him on Monday, Judge Picken described his actions as close to “complete undermining of a regulatory framework designed to protect the millions of people who fly every day.” The judge added that the creation of fake personas to interact with clients and suppliers gave the misleading impression that AOG Technics was a far larger operation than it actually was.
The scam involved meticulous forgery. TAP employees had sent copies of authentic certificates to Zamora Yrala, who altered some details before sending them to clients. Later, he created entirely new certificates with the assistance of a Spanish graphic designer. Shipment documents were also falsified. Despite this, the prosecution did not investigate the origins of the bogus parts or assess whether they posed direct safety risks, though the grounding of planes in the UK and internationally in 2023 suggests regulators took the potential threat seriously.
Zamora Yrala’s personal history is strikingly unconventional. Before joining the airline industry in 2011, he was a techno DJ and music producer. The court heard that he split from his wife before his arrest, and their two young children had moved to Spain, leaving him separated from them since December 2023. His defence argued that he had not believed the parts sold were unsafe. The judge, taking into account his early guilty plea and apparent remorse, applied a one-third reduction on a seven-year sentence. In addition to his jail term, Zamora Yrala has been banned from running companies for eight years.
The SFO, working with Portuguese authorities, began investigating AOG Technics in October 2023. The Portuguese inquiry remains ongoing, with three individuals currently in custody. Emma Luxton, director of operations at the SFO, emphasized the extraordinary risk the scam posed, stating it “defies belief” that such a small operation could reach airlines worldwide and manipulate critical safety documentation.
The case also highlights vulnerabilities in the aviation supply chain. While the production and sale of aircraft parts are heavily regulated, brokers such as AOG Technics operate with minimal oversight, often as small, unregulated companies. This gap allowed Zamora Yrala to exploit the system, demonstrating the need for tighter global monitoring and verification of aviation components.
Times UK reports that investigators found evidence on Zamora Yrala’s phone referencing the faking of aviation parts certificates and the dissolution of companies involved in similar schemes. His actions, described by the judge as “utterly inexcusable,” left the industry with multi-million-pound losses, temporarily grounded planes, and prompted urgent reviews of regulatory controls.
