Alleged US fraudster got Irish grant

An alleged fraudster sought in the US for selling dangerous fake aircraft parts had an undisclosed conviction for a similar crime before he was granted over €150,000 by the Irish government, newly released documents have shown.

Joseph Patrick Smith Jnr (67), was jailed for 15 months in Phoenix, Arizona in 1992 for selling bogus aircraft parts. Upon his release, he moved his operation to Shannon to escape bad publicity in the US, according to Arizona prosecution documents.

The US attorney's office in Phoenix, Arizona told The Irish Times yesterday it is seeking Smith's extradition to the US for selling dangerous counterfeit aircraft parts that were intended for the US military and for Nasa's astronaut training planes.

The crimes were allegedly committed in Shannon and Arizona while Smith was managing director of his own company, Smyth Aerospace Manufacturing. Richard Bruton, the then Minister for Enterprise and Employment, welcomed the arrival of the company to Shannon in April 1997.

At the time, Shannon Development announced that the "family-owned American aerospace company of Phoenix Arizona is relocating its aircraft component brokerage/ distribution operations to Shannon" and awarded the company over €150,000 in grants.

However, the company immediately began selling fraudulent aircraft parts to the US military and to NASA, according to admissions made by Mr Smith's two sons in an Arizona court this month when they were convicted of conspiracy to commit fraud.

Their convictions following an undercover FBI and US Airforce investigation which led the Garda to raid the Smyth Aerospace Manufacturing's Shannon offices in 2000.

As a result of the operation, the Irish Air Corps training fleet and Cessna helicopters were grounded during an Irish defence ministry investigation into Irish Department of Defence purchases from the company. The Smith sons admitted that the company had set up separate phone lines and a new postal address in Shannon to hide the illegal trade in bogus aircraft parts and that the sons negotiated with buyers representing NASA and the US airforce. NASA needed the parts for its astronaut training aircraft and for aircraft that escorted the space shuttle.

Joseph Patrick Smith Jnr's sons, Joseph Patrick Smith III (43), of Phoenix, and Thomas Edward Smith (39), of Rockville, Maryland were each sentenced to five years probation and ordered to pay $24,722 (€20,433) in restitution. Their father has denied any involvement in fraud.

Richard Mesh, assistant US Attorney, in Arizona, said he had lodged an extradition request for Joseph Patrick Smith Jnr with the US Justice Department within the last two weeks.