The new Chair of the International Accreditation Forum (IAF), Emanuele Riva, has claimed that the scandal related to counterfeit titanium materials being sold to aircraft manufacturer Leonardo, which later were used in Boeing aircraft, was due to a single rogue AS9100 auditor.
Riva, who also heads the Italian accreditation body ACCREDIA, has been in email conversations with Oxebridge founder Christopher Paris for the past few weeks, discussing at length the scandal surrounding Italian aerospace company Manufacturing Process Specification SRL (MPS). Paris has challenged ACCREDIA and the IAF to take action against the company, which currently has its AS9100 certification “suspended,” but not yet permanently withdrawn.
In defense of his organizations, Riva claimed first that the “MPS” company listed in the AS9100 database OASIS is not the same company as that mentioned in widespread news reporting on the counterfeiting scandal. Mainstream news organizations, however, are reporting that the “MPS” under criminal probe is owned by Antonio Ingrosso. Italian business records then show Ingrosso’s company shares the exact Brindisi address as the one shown in OASIS, and on its current AS9100 certificate.
Appearing to contradict his own claim about MPS, Riva then claimed that the problem was the result of a single rogue AS9100 auditor, who he referred to only as “F.A.” Riva claims “F.A.” had engaged in a practice of copying-and-pasting past AS9100 audit reports, and then passing them off as new.
Oxebridge has learned that the auditor in question is Filippo Anglani. OASIS records report that Anglani’s auditor credentials were “permanently withdrawn” in June of 2021.
Filippo Anglani (Source: LinkedIn)
Nothing in any of the news reporting to date discusses the auditor issue, nor suggests any investigation into Anglani, and instead alleges that MPS engaged in a three-year counterfeiting scam that victimized both Leonardo and Boeing.
Riva then claims that ACCREDIA cannot be to blame, and instead points the issue back to MPS’ current certification body, Intertek, and its accreditation body ANAB. Ironically, ANAB’s Vice President, Lori Gillespie, is Riva’s Vice Chair on the IAF.
Oxebridge’s reporting, however, reveals that OASIS records show the three-year counterfeiting scam would have encompassed not only Intertek’s current certification, but also two prior certificates issued by two Italian bodies: CISQ and UNAVIACert. The latter two CBs were accredited by ACCREDIA.
Anglani’s LinkedIn profile shows that he worked all three CBs. This suggests that as he moved from one CB to another, MPS followed him as a client. This would explain why MPS had so many certification bodies in such a short period of time.
Riva also claimed that MPS’ AS9100 certification was permanently withdrawn. OASIS records show that the current certification granted by Intertek has only been temporarily “suspended,” and that this suspension was not due to the counterfeiting scandal, but for “non-payment of invoices.”
MPS has declared bankruptcy in the wake of the scandal, and Ingrosso was temporarily placed under house arrest.
In the certification scheme’s defense, Riva has insisted that ISO and AS9100 audits are not capable of identifying fraud. Oxebridge argues that AS9100 includes a specific clause on “control of counterfeit parts,” and the evidence suggests that the three CBs never audited the clause, despite granting MPS multiple certifications. Riva’s claims against Anglani do not explain why, if IAF and AS9100 oversight bodies knew that prior audit reports were falsified, MPS’ certification was not permanently revoked.
Riva then tried to minimize the scandal, saying, “Boeing said this is not an immediate concern for the flight safety of the fleet in service.”
Oxebridge has identified a decades-long pattern by the IAF of justifying crimes and other violations by the CBs and ABs falling underneath its agreements, and a steadfast refusal to take action under any circumstances.
UPDATE 25 January 2022: Riva has now admitted the MPS company in Brindisi is the same company that was certified to AS9100.
As of 19 January, MPS’ certification status in OASIS was changed to “withdrawn” with the reason given as “non-payment of invoices.”
