The Department of Justice reports that a U.S. company will pay $400,000 to resolve claims that it knowingly sold goods made in China to the federal government and misrepresented those goods as being made in the U.S. Under the Trade Agreements Act, goods sold to the military or federal government purchasers must be made in the U.S. or certain designated foreign countries, of which China is not one.
The DOJ states that this settlement agreement resolves claims based on the violative conduct under the common law doctrines of payment by mistake and breach of contract. These allegations were brought to the government’s attention by a former company employee who filed a qui tam complaint on behalf of the U.S. alleging that the company had violated the False Claims Act.
The DOJ adds that this is the third such civil resolution obtained by the District of Rhode Island since 2022 and follows two successful criminal prosecutions by that office of individuals who had various roles in a conspiracy that directed the development, manufacture, and importation of $20 million worth of Chinese-made counterfeit U.S. military uniforms and gear that were passed off as genuine U.S.-made products and sold to the U.S. government.
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