Summary

On October 29, 2012, Bowman Plating Company, Inc. (Bowman), a chemical processing company located in Compton, California, was sentenced in U.S. District Court, Los Angeles, California, for providing false statements related to the chemical processing of aircraft parts sold to commercial aviation companies and to the Department of Defense.  Bowman was ordered to pay a fine of $500,000, a special assessment of $1200, and to serve three years of probation.

In 2006, several companies retained Bowman to complete chemical film coating for their aircraft parts.  Chemical film coating, also known as chemical conversion coating, is used to provide maximum corrosion resistance to aluminum alloy parts.  The companies submitted purchase orders listing the required specifications.  The coating was performed and Bowman issued certificates of conformance (COCs) certifying that the aircraft parts were processed in accordance with  applicable specifications.  The parts were then shipped to Bowman's customers.  Bowman also retained a third party testing company to perform a chemical process control test.  Following testing, the  company issued a report documenting that the test had failed.  Although the parts had already been shipped along with the COCs, Bowman did not notify its customers of the failure.

This investigation was conducted jointly with the Defense Criminal Investigative Service.