Sunday, July 12, 2015

Bergen County, New Jersey: Man Laundered Used Jet Engine Parts --U.S. Attorney

Gideon Vaisman, 75, of Edgewater, was charged with several counts of wire fraud and mail fraud. He allegedly ran the scheme for 19 years.

A Bergen County man was indicted on 23 charges he laundered used jet engine parts for nearly 20 years, didn’t pay taxes on the money he received, and defrauded the Federal Aviation Administration, authorities said.

A federal grand jury indicted Gideon Vaisman, 75, of Edgewater, on several counts of wire fraud, mail fraud, and filing false tax returns, U.S. Attorney Paul J. Fishman announced.

Vaisman bought and sold aircraft parts through his Ridgefield-based businesses: Integrated Technology Corp. Tara Technology from 1990 through 2009.

Vaisaman purchased ”vital engine parts” called blades and vanes from scrap metal dealers. He later had Carmine Coviello, Tara Technology’s general manager, use his aircraft parts and broker company, Shelby Enterprises, to sand and file the parts in order to hide the fact that the parts were scrap, the indictment states. An FAA repair station even rejected some of the parts for repair.

FAA regulations state that only FAA-certified repair stations or mechanics perform such work on aircraft parts.

Vaisman, Coviello, and others conducted sham sales, which were conducted only on paper, of the blades and vans to Integrated Technology and Tara Aviation Ltd., an aircraft parts broker and sellers in the United Kingdom, Fishman said. Vaisman controlled and financed Tara Aviation.

Coviello created fraudulent paperwork certifying the parts were not subjected to “excessive stress and heat” or that they were deemed “usable” by an FAA repair station.

Vaisman, Coviello, and another conspirator used the paperwork to sell the parts to aircraft, brokers, airlines, and others on behalf of Tara Aviation.

The indictment also alleges that Vaisman failed to report more than $14.2 million in net income from Tara Aviation on his personal tax returns and those of Tara Technology.

Vaisman was charged with nine counts of mail fraud, four counts of wire fraud, eight counts of filing false tax returns, and one count each of conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud and conspiracy to commit fraud involving aircraft parts, Fishman said. He was arrested in May 2013.

Vaisman could spend the rest of his life in prison. The mail and wire fraud conspiracy and related charges each carry a maximum terms of 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine.

Coviello previously pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit wire fraud for his role in the scheme. He is scheduled to be sentenced in September.

Source:  https://patch.com

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