In
addition, during the repair of an aircraft part, a
certified repair station is required to comply with the
manufacturer’s Component Maintenance Manual (CMM), a
step-by-step guide for conducting a proper repair of the
part that is prepared by the manufacturer and approved
by the FAA. The CMM contains the steps that a repair
shop must take to fix a part, as well as the tests and
inspections that must be done before the part can be
returned to service. The superseding indictment alleges
that the defendants regularly failed to follow the
manufacturer’s CMMs. Indeed, per the indictment, the
defendants did not even have the equipment needed to
perform many of the tests required by the CMMs. The
defendants nonetheless performed repairs or directed
WECO technicians to perform repairs of parts and
returned those parts to customers, allegedly completing
false certifications for each one that the part had been
repaired in accordance with FAA regulations.
There have been no known instances in which a fraudulent
WECO repair resulted in an aircraft accident. Upon
learning of the allegations, the FAA issued an emergency
order suspending WECO’s repair station certificate. In
addition, since finalizing its purchase of WECO in 2008,
Gulfstream has fully cooperated with law enforcement in
the investigation and prosecution of this case. The
conduct alleged in the superseding indictment occurred
prior to Gulfstream’s acquisition of WECO, and none of
the defendants is currently employed at WECO.
“Federal aircraft part repair regulations are intended
to promote aircraft safety,” said U.S. Attorney Benjamin
Wagner. “Any attempt to circumvent those regulations for
profit deserves the highest scrutiny by federal law
enforcement.” This case is the product of an
extensive investigation by the Inspector General for the
Department of Transportation and the Federal Bureau of
Investigation, along with the Inspectors General of the
Department of Homeland Security and Department of
Defense. Assistant United States Attorney Kyle Reardon
is prosecuting the case.
If
convicted, the defendants face a maximum statutory
penalty for the conspiracy to commit fraud and fraud
involving aircraft parts in interstate commerce of 15
years in prison, a fine of $500,000, and three years of
supervised release. The maximum statutory penalty for
each count of mail fraud is 20 years in prison, a fine
of $250,000, and a three-year term of supervised
release. The actual sentence, however, will be
determined at the discretion of the court after
consideration of any applicable statutory factors and
the Federal Sentencing Guidelines, which take into
account a number of variables.
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