CEO Sentenced in Unapproved Aircraft Parts Investigation

Jeffrey Krantz, CEO and owner of Harry Krantz, LLC of New York, N.Y., was sentenced in U.S. District Court, Hartford, Conn., to three years of probation, a $100,000 fine, and ordered not to be directly or indirectly involved in the buying or selling of electronic parts for a period of two years related to his role in the sale of unapproved aircraft parts. In late July he pleaded guilty to wire fraud for supplying customers with falsely remarked microprocessor chips. Krantz was also required to surrender control over Krantz LLC and all beneficial and/or financial interest.

In 2005, Krantz entered into a business relationship with Jeffrey Warga, the president and owner of Rhode Island-based Bay Components to sell military-grade microprocessor chips to Bay Components, which would in turn sell them to a Connecticut company. Krantz knew that the Connecticut company wanted new and original chips. Between 2005 and 2008, Krantz supplied more than 1,000 chips to Bay Components, which, in turn sold them to the Connecticut company. The court found that Krantz knew that the chips originated from a parts supplier in China and that there was a high probability that the chips were falsely remarked and not the original manufacturer’s.