John D. Walker and the Hansen Helicopters aviation fraud case

There is a local angle to a crime story that received international publicity.

Unfortunately, it's less than positive.

The man convicted of the crime and receiving over three decades in federal prison is a native of Neosho, Missouri.

Each year, the Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigation describes its top 10 tax crime cases of the year.

The cases involve a range of financial crimes including pandemic relief fraud, public corruption, cybercrime, and tax evasion.

The IRS determined for calendar year 2025, the crime that made number five on the list was the Hansen Helicopters Aviation Fraud case.

In that crime, CEO John D. Walker orchestrated a decades-long conspiracy to defraud the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) through his company, Hansen Helicopters.

Walker utilized at least 48 shell companies to lease unairworthy helicopters to tuna fishing boat companies, generating over $400 million in illicit revenue.

The company employed uncertified mechanics, utilized counterfeit aircraft parts, and forged documents to conceal that the aircraft were unregistered and unsafe.

John D. Walker, the perpetrator, attended Neosho High School in the early 1980s.  

He owns property in MacDonald County and has had a private hanger for niche aircraft at Robinson Airport in Neosho.

Walker spent much of his professional life in Missouri and Guam. 

In Guam his company worked with international fishing operations. But he and other members of his company began circumventing federal aviation safety regulations all the way back in the late 1990s to make money for Hanson Helicopters.

What they would do is buy old scrapped aircraft, falsify records and then put them back into service.

The problem as safety:  One of those aircraft crashed in late 2015, killing the pilot.

The total fraud resulted in at least 38 accidents or incidents, involving deaths and serious bodily injuries. Walker bribed aviation officials and disregarded safety laws to maximize profit, building helicopters from discarded frames and counterfeit parts.

Walker ultimately received 405 months – just under 34 years - in federal prison for the crime. 

He was ordered to forfeit over $58 million dollars in fraud proceeds and just under $12 million in money laundering funds.

He’ll also have to pay a quarter-million dollar fine and special assessment fees.

Three other Hanson Helicopters executives also were charged