Prosecution Claims Over $7 Million In Charges Were Never Paid

After several years spent gathering information, US prosecutors have charged two men for systematical receiving aircraft parts from Honeywell and Pratt & Whitney and then reversing payment.  Faramarz Rafii Tari, 52, and Stefan Gillier, 38, each face a maximum of 20 years in prison if convicted.

According to U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara in New York, the men "manufactured a competitive advantage by selling aircraft parts that they allegedly never paid for."

Tari, who is a Canadian citizen, was arrested Wednesday morning in Manhattan.  Gillier is a Belgium native living in Quebec and prosecutors say he is still at large.  The two men are accused of buying aircraft parts in large volumes during 2004-2006 using their NY-based aircraft parts companies RTF International and UN Air Service. 

The parts suppliers claim the men wrote $16.6 million of checks, and then stopped payment on $15.8 million of those checks, leaving them with almost $7 million in parts.  The companies then resold the parts at a substantial profit.

"Honeywell identified the underlying fraud perpetrated by RTF several years ago and has since used all available legal means, including referring to and active cooperation with, the U.S. Attorney's office, to obtain full restitution," said Karen Crabtree, a spokeswomen for Honeywell.  She also thanked the authorities for their efforts to "bring Tari and his colleagues to justice."

Additional claims indicate the defendants used personal connections and family members to open accounts and improperly shuffle company funds.

FMI: www.nysd.uscourts.gov, www.honeywell.com, www.pw.utc.com