Summary

On June 3, 2011, in the U.S. District Court, Miami, Florida, Mr. Hector Sorvik, aka Hector Arias, pleaded guilty to a charge of aircraft parts fraud for his involvement in falsifying aircraft parts traceability documentation while employed with Daytona Aerospace, Inc. (DAI), a South Florida aircraft parts broker and licensed Department of Defense contractor.  As part of the plea agreement, Mr. Sorvik admitted that while employed at DAI, he created, maintained, and updated a computer program entitled "TRACEFORALL", that was designed to create traceability documentation that was later utilized to aid in the certification of the origin of numerous aircraft parts sold by DAI.  Mr. Sorvik further admitted the traceability documentation created by this program did not accurately reflect an aircraft part's origin. Sentencing is set for August 26, 2011.

This investigation was based on allegations that a conspiracy existed in which companies that were not approved by the FAA or Department of Defense (DoD), had manufactured aircraft for military and civilian aircraft.  These manufacturers conspired with brokers and authorized DoD contractors to sell these unapproved aircraft parts to the United States Air Force (USAF).  In cases where the customer required supporting FAA authentication documents, brokers would further conspire with FAA repair stations to falsify FAA forms, giving the illusion that the manufactured parts had been approved by the FAA and were suitable for installation on an aircraft.

This investigation was conducted jointly with Defense Criminal Investigative Service, USAF Office of Special Investigations, Federal Bureau of Investigation, Department of Homeland Security/US Immigration and Customs Enforcement, with the FAA providing technical assistance.