THE Serious Fraud Office has begun a formal investigation into the collapse of Aero Inventory, the aircraft components group.

The AIM-listed company, which supplied airlines with everything from drinks trolleys to air-conditioning filters, was worth £140m when it filed for administration late last year.

A senior source said the SFO had received a number of allegations regarding the company and believed there was sufficient information to examine whether there had been any wrongdoing.

“We will be investigating everything,” he said. “We will try to find out what happened and how it happened.”

Aero’s shares were suspended last October after accounting errors were discovered in a Canadian contract. The company’s business model was to buy the parts divisions of airlines, including Australia’s Qantas and All Nippon Airways in Japan, and sell back the inventory to them over time.

It reported sales of £440m in 2008 but ran out of cash last year and was unable to secure an extra £50m from its banks.

Shareholders, including Gartmore, HSBC and Lansdowne Partners, are unlikely to receive anything, according to KPMG, the administrator.

The chief executive was Rupert Lewin, who joined the Hertfordshire-based business in 1994. He and Hugh Bevan, finance director, resigned shortly before it went into administration.

Lewin set up his own Porsche racing team, which received £200,000 in corporate hospitality fees from Aero between 2004 and 2007. Sarah Bennett-Baggs, the racing driver and television personality, was installed as the team manager.