The director of a London-based airline parts company used forged documents to sell tens of thousands of engine parts, causing large losses for aviation industry giants including American Airlines, GE Aerospace, and Safran, prosecutors said on Monday.

Jose Alejandro Zamora Yrala, 38, has admitted defrauding customers and potential customers of AOG Technics by falsifying documents regarding the source and condition of engine parts from January 2019 to December 2023.

The 2023 discovery of forged certificates, many relating to parts for CFM56 engines that power some Airbus and Boeing jets, led to planes being briefly grounded worldwide over safety fears.

Zamora Yrala, 38, pleaded guilty in December to fraudulent trading, a charge which carries a maximum sentence of 10 years’ imprisonment.

On Monday, he sat in the dock at London’s Southwark Crown Court as prosecutor Faras Baloch said his offenses resulted in more than 60,000 suspect parts entering the global aviation supply chain.

He is expected to be sentenced later today.

COMPANIES SUFFERED MILLIONS IN LOSSES

AOG Technics sold parts with falsified documents for a total of about 6.9 million pounds ($9.3 million), representing 90% of the company’s revenue, Baloch added.

The fraud caused around 39.3 million pounds in losses, including about 23 million pounds suffered by American Airlines, which obtained parts from an AOG Technics customer, for the cost of repairing affected engines, leasing replacements, and for aircraft being out of use, Baloch said.

American Airlines did not immediately respond to a request for comment outside U.S. office hours.

Jet engine maker CFM International’s co-owners GE Aerospace and Safran suffered financial losses of around 3 million pounds and 580,000 pounds, respectively, as well as “reputational damage,” Baloch added.

GE Aerospace and Safran did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

2023 DISCOVERY PROMPTED WORLDWIDE HUNT

Zamora Yrala and AOG Technics were sued at London’s High Court by CFM International, GE, and Safran in 2023, shortly after European regulators began investigating reports that parts without valid certificates had been found inside CFM56 engines.

Baloch said the CFM56 is “the leading engine in commercial aircraft and powers Boeing 737 and Airbus A320 planes.”

CFM had launched a worldwide hunt for parts with suspected false documentation from AOG Technics, and fears over potentially false paperwork have prompted calls for extra regulation.

Baloch said Zamora Yrala’s fraud had caused “a loss of trust in the airline industry as a whole.”

Prosecutors are also asking for Zamora Yrala to be banned from acting as a company director and for the confiscation of the proceeds of his fraud.

($1 = 0.7410 pounds)

(Reporting by Sam Tobin; Editing by Hugh Lawson)