VALLEYWIDE : 3 Firms Charged Over Parts Fraud

Three San Fernando Valley companies were among five charged with fraud Friday, following an 18-month sting operation by the FBI in San Francisco aimed at halting the sale of bogus aircraft parts to the Pentagon.

Three executives from the Valley companies and two others were also charged in connection with the ongoing case, said Richard Held, the agent in charge of the FBI’s San Francisco office. The criminal charges were filed in U.S. District Court in San Francisco.

To operate the sting, the FBI set up a phony aerospace hardware brokerage company in the San Francisco Bay area to buy parts for the Department of Defense, Held said. The operation focused on aerospace parts, specifically fasteners and hydraulic fittings that under federal laws must meet specific standards.

Manufacturers are required to provide certificates to prove the parts meet federal standards, Held said. But the five companies charged were unable to provide the documentation when requested by federal authorities, Held said.

The companies included 3-R Sales, of Sun Valley; Pacific Hi-Temp Hardware Co., of Burbank; Magna Aire Products Corp., of Burbank; Space Air Supply Co., of Oakland, Calif.; and Southwest Allied Products Co., of Vanleer, Tenn., Held said.

The executives included Seymour Waterman, 74, of Encino; John R. Davis, 34, of Acton; Warren M. Anderson, 40, of Sunland; Les Stevens, 65, of Castro Valley, Calif., and Frank D. Rogers, 63, of Vanleer, Tenn., Held said.