Yuksel Senbol, a 36-year-old resident of Orlando, Florida, has been sentenced to 15 months in prison. The charges against her include conspiracy to defraud the United States, wire fraud, money laundering, and violations related to the unlawful export of technical data. The court also ordered the forfeiture of $275,430.90 as proceeds from her fraudulent activities. Senbol pleaded guilty on May 7.
According to public records, starting in April 2019, Senbol ran a front company named Mason Engineering Parts LLC in Florida. This entity was used to help co-conspirators Mehmet Ozcan and Onur Simsek secure contracts fraudulently for supplying military components to the Department of Defense. These components were intended for use in various military systems such as Navy aircraft carriers and submarines, Marine Corps vehicles, and Army tanks.
Senbol and her associates misrepresented Mason Engineering Parts LLC as a legitimate manufacturer while parts were actually produced by Ozcan and Simsek in Turkey. It was crucial to hide Simsek’s involvement due to his previous debarment from U.S. government contracts following a similar conviction.
To facilitate production in Turkey, Senbol aided in obtaining sensitive military drawings by using software that allowed remote control of her computer by Ozcan. This bypassed security measures restricting access to these drawings within the U.S., enabling their illegal export despite agreements she had signed to protect them.
After manufacturing the components abroad, they were shipped back to Senbol who removed indications of their Turkish origin before delivering them under false pretenses for payment from the U.S. government. She then laundered substantial amounts back to Turkey through international wire transfers.
The scheme was eventually detected by federal investigators when it was found that parts supplied did not meet required specifications and included critical application items whose failure could have rendered systems inoperable.
Co-conspirators Mehmet Ozcan and Onur Simsek remain fugitives.
The investigation is being conducted by several agencies including the General Services Administration's Office of Inspector General; Defense Criminal Investigative Service; Department of Commerce; Air Force Office of Special Investigations; FBI; Homeland Security Investigations; and Department of State's Directorate of Defense Trade Controls.
Assistant U.S. Attorneys Daniel J. Marcet and Lindsey Schmidt along with Trial Attorney Stephen Marzen are prosecuting this case.