Fort Myers body armor manufacturer settles civil suit for $900,000

A body armor manufacturing company has agreed to settle a civil suit by paying $900,000 fine for claiming to be a small business and receiving federal contracts meant for business with less than 500 employees.

Survival Armor, Inc. has agreed to pay the money to the United States to resolve allegations that it wrongfully obtained a five-year small business set-aside contract with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security by misrepresenting its company size.

To make the playing field level for small businesses to be able to obtain contracts from the government, Small Business Set-asides are meant to go to smaller companies that otherwise would be beaten out by larger companies.

In November 2011, Survival Armor certified that it was a “small business concern” with less than 500 employees in order to be eligible to be awarded this SBSA contract. However, Survival Armor was at the time, and continues to be, merely a subsidiary of a foreign, large corporate parent company with well over 500 employees.

The investigation was handled by Assistant U.S. Attorney Kyle S. Cohen, with assistance from DHS-OIG and SBA-OIG.

The claims resolved by the settlement are allegations only, and there has been no determination of liability.