A Connecticut company and its owner have entered into a civil settlement agreement with the United States for violating the False Claims Act by shipping products directly from China to a procuring agency.
LED Lighting Solutions, LLC and its owner, Thomas DeSantos of Berlin, agreed to a $300,000 settlement to resolve allegations that they failed to comply with the Buy American Act and the Trade Agreements Act by “selling foreign end products to several government procuring agencies,” according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
“The TAA generally bars government procurements of end products from foreign countries that have not entered into trade agreements with the U.S. The BAA creates a preference for the government to acquire domestic end products,” the U.S. Attorney’s Office said.
LED Lighting Solutions reportedly entered into a Multiple Award Schedule contract with the General Services Administration in 2013 to supply LED lights and lighting products, which required compliance with the TAA, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
“Before entering into the GSA MAS contract, LED Lighting Solutions provided GSA with a ‘letter of supply’ attesting to its supplier’s compliance with the TAA,” the U.S. Attorney’s Office said. “LED Lighting Solutions certified compliance with the TAA and failed to identify any foreign end products on its product list each year.”
According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office, the Air Force, Coast Guard, GSA, Department of State and USDA each ordered products off of LED Lighting Solutions’ GSA MAS contract.
The government contends that LED Lighting Solutions and DeSantos “falsely certified that they were providing these agencies with TAA-compliant end products under seven contracts/delivery orders when, in fact, some of the end products were manufactured in China, which has not entered into a trade agreement with the U.S.,” the U.S. Attorney’s Office said. “This included at least one contract for which LED Lighting Solutions and DeSantos arranged to have products shipped directly from China to the procuring agency.”
LED Lighting Solutions also reportedly entered into eight contracts with the Air Force, Army, and FEMA, which required compliance with the BAA. The government contends that LED Lighting Solutions and DeSantos “falsely certified that they were providing these procuring agencies with domestic end products when, in fact, some of the products were foreign end products,” according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
In addition to the settlement, LED Lighting also reportedly agreed to withdraw two appeals pending before the Armed Services Board of Contract Appeals for termination of an Army contract for which LED Lighting Solutions reportedly supplied foreign end products. the U.S. Attorney’s Office said.
The investigation was conducted by the Defense Criminal Investigative Service, the Defense Contract Audit Agency Operations Investigative Support Division, the GSA Office of Inspector General, the Department of the Army Criminal Investigative Division, the U.S. Coast Guard, the Air Force Office of Special Investigations, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and Department of Justice Office of Inspector General.
Originally Published: May 21, 2025 at 6:30 AM EDT
