Fraudster Banged Up for Nearly Five Years in £39 Million Aircraft Scam
Jose Alejandro Zamora Yrala, 38, the boss of UK aircraft parts trader AOG Technics, is heading to prison for 4 years and 8 months. The Serious Fraud Office (SFO) revealed he masterminded a massive £39.3 million rip-off that endangered passenger safety and sent shockwaves through the aviation industry.
Fake Plane Parts and Forged Safety Papers
The SFO’s investigation found Zamora ran his con from a Surrey home office between 2019 and 2023. AOG Technics hawked more than 60,000 fake engine parts worth nearly £7 million, all with forged Authorised Release Certificates (ARCs) – the all-important documents that prove parts are safe to fly.
- Most counterfeit parts targeted the CFM56 engine, the world’s most common commercial jet engine.
- AOG raked in over £7.7 million in revenue over four years, 90% from scams.
Web of Lies and Fake Staff
Zamora doctored genuine safety certificates on his home computer and created fake shipment documents claiming parts came from giants like Safran. He even made up bogus employees, complete with phoney emails and signed documents from fake sales and quality managers – all to hoodwink customers and boost his scam’s credibility.
Scam Uncovered, Airlines Grounded
The fraud came crashing down in 2023 when an airline double-checked an AOG part with Safran, who flagged the certificate as fake. This sparked urgent safety warnings from the UK Civil Aviation Authority, the US Federal Aviation Administration, and the European Union Aviation Safety Agency.
Worldwide flights were stopped, grounding planes and hammering airlines like American Airlines and Ethiopian Airlines, along with manufacturers, with losses totalling a staggering £39.3 million.
Justice Served
Zamora pleaded guilty to fraudulent trading in December 2025, sealing his fate just over two years after the probe began. His prison sentence sends a clear message: fraudsters who play with passenger safety won’t get off lightly.
