Defense Contractor Admits Defrauding U.S. Military in International Procurement Scheme

A Florida defense contractor has pleaded guilty to felony charges for conspiring to defraud the U.S. government, money laundering, and illegally exporting sensitive military technical data as part of an elaborate international procurement fraud.

Yuksel Senbol, 36, of Orlando pleaded guilty to 25 counts in federal court, admitting to operating a front company called Mason Engineering Parts LLC to fraudulently obtain contracts from the Department of Defense and other agencies to supply critical military components.

According to court documents, between 2019 and when the scheme was uncovered by investigators, Senbol conspired with two individuals in Turkey, Mehmet Ozcan and Onur Simsek, to misrepresent that her company could manufacture components for the U.S. Navy's aircraft carriers and submarines, as well as the Marine Corps' armored vehicles and Army tanks.

In reality, Ozcan and Simsek, who had previously been debarred from U.S. defense contracting, were illegally producing the parts in Turkey using controlled technical drawings and specifications that Senbol helped unlawfully export.

Senbol admitted to remotely transferring the sensitive, export-controlled military schematics and specifications to the Turkish manufacturers, in violation of arms export control laws and her own contractual agreements to safeguard the data.

The conspirators then shipped the Turkish-made components to Senbol, who repackaged them to conceal their origins before delivering them to the U.S. government while falsely certifying they were domestically produced.

Senbol laundered hundreds of thousands of dollars in illicit proceeds back to Turkey through international wire transfers to pay the Turkish suppliers.

The scheme began unraveling when the U.S. military determined many of the supplied components, some classified as "critical application items," did not meet required specifications and could have rendered defense systems inoperable if installed.

Senbol faces up to 20 years in prison for the wire fraud, export control, and Arms Export Control Act violations, as well as 10 years for the money laundering counts. Sentencing is scheduled for August 6th. Her alleged Turkish co-conspirators remain fugitives.

The case involved a joint investigation by the FBI, inspectors general, military criminal investigative services, and export enforcement agencies. It underscores heightened scrutiny of contractors in the defense supply chain following similar procurement fraud prosecutions.

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