The FBI has slapped a $150,000 bounty on Onur Simsek, a Turkish national accused of running a scheme to defraud the U.S. military through a front company based in Orlando, and federal officials say the fake parts it produced were headed for some of the country's most critical weapons systems. Simsek was added to the FBI's Most Wanted Fraudsters list this week, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Middle District of Florida in Tampa.
According to the USAO Middle Florida, Simsek was barred from doing business with the U.S. government in 2018, yet went on to engage in a conspiracy to defraud the Department of Defense by entering into contracts to manufacture military components. The office says he deliberately concealed, misrepresented, and submitted false claims to the government for personal gain, at the expense of American taxpayers. Gregory W. Kehoe, the United States Attorney for the Middle District of Florida, put it bluntly in a statement: “For that, he must be brought to justice.”
https://t.co/74Mbn2hkXb pic.twitter.com/GXmezxqmOD
— USAO Middle Florida (@USAO_MDFL) September 3, 2026
Anyone with information on Simsek's whereabouts is asked to call 1-800-CALL-FBI (225-5324) or submit a tip at tips.fbi.gov, per the FBI. He is believed to have fled to Turkey, according to FBI Tampa.
A Debarment He Allegedly Ignored
Simsek's 2018 ban from federal contracting wasn't his first brush with this exact kind of fraud. The Daily Muck reports he was previously convicted of a nearly identical defense procurement fraud scheme that same year in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida, which resulted in a five-year federal debarment prohibiting him from government contracting through October 2023.
That history is why prosecutors say Simsek needed a workaround to keep bidding on Defense Logistics Agency contracts. The U.S. Department of Justice says Simsek and co-conspirator Mehmet Ozcan used Orlando resident Yuksel Senbol and her front company, Mason Engineering Parts LLC, to bid on contracts for critical military hardware intended for aircraft carriers, submarines, and battle tanks.
Parts Meant for Carriers, Submarines and Abrams Tanks
The stakes of the alleged fraud go well beyond a paperwork violation. The U.S. General Services Administration says the falsely certified military components supplied through the front company were intended for high-priority U.S. weapons systems, including Navy Nimitz- and Ford-class aircraft carriers, Navy submarines, Marine Corps armored vehicles, and Army M1 Abrams tanks. Federal authorities noted that component failures could have rendered critical end-use defense systems inoperable, per the agency's release.
The scheme involved remote digital access to export-controlled technical schematics, manufacturing non-conforming parts in Turkey, and repackaging them in Florida with false domestic certifications, according to the GRC Report. To bypass federal security restrictions on sensitive technical drawings, Senbol installed software that allowed her Turkish-based accomplices to remotely control her Orlando computer and export the restricted files, the outlet reported.
The Turkish Manufacturer Behind the Parts
On the other end of the supply chain, Ozcan operated a Turkish manufacturing company called Edebali Makina, where the non-compliant military components were physically produced before being shipped to Florida for false domestic repackaging, The Daily Muck reports. Ozcan remains an indicted fugitive alongside Simsek and is believed to be residing in Turkey.
Mason Engineering Parts LLC, the front company, was registered with the Defense Logistics Agency as a Woman Owned Small Business and falsely claimed ISO 9001 quality management certification, according to the same outlet's report, exploiting federal contracting quotas set aside for certified small businesses.
How the Scheme Unraveled
The conspiracy began falling apart after federal military inspectors tested the delivered components and discovered they failed to conform to U.S. military specifications, according to WORLD News Group. That quality-assurance failure set off the multi-agency investigation that eventually led to Simsek's federal charges.
A federal arrest warrant was issued for Simsek on October 25, 2023, by the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida, charging him with eight felony counts including conspiracy to commit wire fraud, money laundering, and violations of the Arms Export Control Act, according to the FBI.
The Local Front Company's Reckoning
Senbol, the Orlando woman who ran Mason Engineering Parts LLC, has already faced consequences. On October 24, 2024, she was sentenced in Florida federal court to 15 months in prison and ordered to forfeit $275,430.90 for operating the front company at the center of the scheme, the Department of Justice says. While she was prosecuted and sentenced, Simsek and Ozcan have remained fugitives abroad.
Part of a Bigger FBI Push
Simsek's addition to the list is part of a newer FBI initiative. The bureau officially launched its Most Wanted Fraudsters program on June 4, 2026, to publicly spotlight high-priority international fugitives accused of major white-collar and procurement crimes against the U.S. government. GSA Administrator Edward C. Forst released a statement the same day Simsek was listed, commending the FBI for the addition and emphasizing federal marketplace enforcement.
The list has already been used to spotlight other major fraud cases nationwide. Hoodline previously reported on a Medicare fraud duo added to the same list by FBI Tampa, as well as the capture of a $1.2 billion Medicare fugitive in the Philippines and the addition of ex-NRIA chief Rey Grabato II over a $650 million scam. Simsek's case now stands as the program's latest bid to use public bounties to pressure fugitives accused of targeting U.S. national security and taxpayer money into surfacing.
