Firm Pleads Guilty to Selling Bogus Parts

A Sun Valley aviation company pleaded guilty this week to selling counterfeit parts for military and commercial aircraft, federal authorities said.

Daniel White, vice president of White Aero Inc., entered the plea Monday on behalf of the corporation on one count of intentionally selling substandard ball bearings as aviation-quality ball bearings, according to Assistant U.S. Atty. Jonathan Shapiro.

White declined to comment Tuesday.

“Fraud regarding flight-critical parts is very worrying,” Shapiro said, adding that counterfeit parts avoid federal inspection.

Between January 1992 and October 1993, White Aero sold about 530 industrial ball bearings to the government and commercial companies, according to Shapiro. Each part carried a counterfeit Bell Aviation mark, making the ball bearing appear to be of higher quality and more expensive, Shapiro said.

White Aero paid about $40 to a supplier for each of the bearings. After re-marking the products, however, each was sold for more than $200, Shapiro said.

The original Bell Aviation ball bearing, designed for use in helicopter tail rotor assemblies, is considered a “flight-critical” part, according to the government.

So far no accidents or injuries have been attributed to the counterfeit parts, Shapiro said.

The evidence against the company was gathered through an FBI and Department of Defense undercover investigation into the sale of defective aircraft parts, Shapiro said.

Sentencing for the company is scheduled for Feb. 3.

The company is expected to pay about $50,000 to replace the counterfeit parts sold and about $30,000 in fines, Shapiro said.