Engineers at TAP Air Portugal’s maintenance subsidiary were working on an aircraft CFM engine that had come in for repair. Workers noticed that a replacement part, a damper to reduce vibration, showed signs of wear, however the accompanying paperwork identified the component as fresh from the production line. 

On June 21, TAP pointed out the discrepancy to Safran SA, the French aerospace company that makes CFM engines together with General Electric Co. Safran quickly determined that the paperwork had been forged. The signature wasn’t that of a company employee, and the reference and purchase order numbers on the part also didn’t add up.

To date, Safran and GE have uncovered more than 90 other certificates that had similarly been falsified. Bogus parts have been found on 126 engines, and all are linked to the same parts distributor in London: AOG Technics Ltd., a little-known outfit started eight years ago by a young entrepreneur named Jose Alejandro Zamora Yrala.

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