Summary

On October 18, 2012, Rangel Fernandez, President; Ivan Fernandez, Vice-President; and Jerry Frystak, General Manager, Aircraft Transparencies Repair (ATR) and Transparencies Engineering Group (TEG), were sentenced in U.S. District Court, Fort Lauderdale, Florida, for their roles in a scheme involving false representations that aircraft windows were overhauled properly, when they were not.  Rangel Fernandez was sentenced to 48 months of incarceration, three years of probation, and ordered to pay $68,033 in restitution.  Ivan Fernandez was sentenced to 37 months of incarceration, three years of probation, and ordered to pay $68,033 in restitution.  Jerry Frystak was sentenced to ten months of incarceration to be followed by one year of probation.

On October 19, 2012, Lisbet Gonzalez, former Office Manager, was sentenced to 21 months of incarceration, 3 years of supervised release, and ordered to pay $11,818.76 in restitution.  Hermes Reyes, aircraft window painter, was sentenced to 4 years of probation and 200 hours of community service, and ordered to pay $7,150 in restitution.  Myriam Cobo, sales representative, was sentenced to 3 years of probation, ordered to perform 150 hours of community service and to pay $9,600 in restitution.   

On March 22, 2012, a multi-count indictment was filed against 16 employees of ATR and TEG for conspiracy to sell and falsely certify to commercial aviation customers the airworthiness of aircraft cockpit windows.  The investigation revealed that from approximately August 2009, to August 2010, ATR employees continued repairing aircraft cockpit windows despite the repair station certificate having been revoked in July 2009.  As part of the scheme, ATR/TEG purchased "as removed" aircraft cockpit windows in the open market and backdated documents to make it appear as if the windows had been retrieved from inventory prior to the certificate revocation.  Additionally, serial numbers on the windows were changed to disguise the source and to further make it appear that all work had been performed prior to the revocation.

This investigation is being worked jointly with the Department of Labor, Office of Inspector General, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and Immigration and Customs Enforcement, with substantial assistance from the Federal Aviation Administration.