Former DOJ Contractor Ordered to Pay Restitution Pursuant to an Amended Judgement for Wire Fraud

On May 31, 2024, a former DOJ Contractor who was sentenced for wire fraud on March 19, 2024, was ordered to pay $2,672,038.88 in restitution. Jeffrey Meining, who operated a business called BulletProof-IT, LLC, that sold ballistic equipment including helmets, body armor, and shields, to numerous state, local, and federal agencies, was sentenced in the District of Oregon. According to the factual statement in support of the guilty plea, from in or about 2016 through in or about 2021, Meining, using interstate and foreign wires, devised a scheme to defraud purchasers of body armor by advertising and selling body armor while making materially false statements about the origin and testing of the armor. Meining sold body armor to government agencies directly and indirectly by acting as a supplier to government contractors. According to the factual statement, Meining made numerous false statements about the nature of his products, including representing that his products were made in the United States when many of his products were imported from Chinese companies, claiming that his products met certain protection levels without testing the products to determine that they met the claimed standards, and altering test results to remove or alter material information. The factual statement further states that Meining made sales totaling at least $2,716,212.18 with at least $550,000 being derived from products that Meining falsely claimed received passing tests and/or falsely claimed were made in the United States. The investigation was conducted by the OIG’s Fraud Detection Office, Homeland Security Investigations, General Services Administration OIG, Defense Criminal Investigative Service, Air Force Office of Special Investigations, Army Criminal Investigation Division Major Procurement Fraud Unit, Naval Criminal Investigative Service, Customs and Border Protection, Department of State OIG, Department of Interior OIG, Department of Veterans Affairs OIG, and the Department of Commerce Bureau of Industry and Security.