FEMA Cancels $55.5 Million Mask Contract With Panthera — WSJ, No. 2:19-bk-00787 (Doc 159-2)

Summary

Copies of two news articles filed June 5, 2020 as Doc 159-2 in bankruptcy case No. 2:19-bk-00787. The Wall Street Journal article by Mark Maremont, updated May 12, 2020, reports that FEMA canceled a $55.5 million no-bid contract with Panthera Worldwide LLC, a small Virginia firm with no history in the mask business, which had agreed to provide 10 million N95 masks by May 1. It says the deadline had been extended once to May 11, that a FEMA spokeswoman cited nondelivery, and that FEMA rejected a request for a second extension. It adds that Panthera's parent company filed for bankruptcy last year and that Panthera Worldwide had one prior federal contract, paid $50,000. An article from The Hill by Marty Johnson reports the same cancellation.

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FEMA Cancels $55.5 Million Mask Contract With Panthera - WSJ
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POLITICS
FEMA Cancels $55.5 Million Mask
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Panthera originally had agreed to provide 10 million N95 masks to FEMAby May 1.
PHOTO: DAVID BECKER/ZUMA PRESS
Bv Mark Maremont
Updated May 12, 2020 9:43 pm ET
The fédéral government said it canceled a $55.5 million contract for respiratory masks,
signed last month with a small Virginia firm with no historv in the mask business and a
parent company in bankruptcy.
EXHIBIT
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FEMA Cancels $55.5 Million Mask Contract With Panthera - WSJ
Page 2 of 3
The no-bid contract, with Panthera Worldwide LLC, was one of the largest mask orders
signed by the Fédéral Emergency Management Agency, as it has raced in recent weeks to
find masks and other protective equipment during the coronavirus pandémie.
Panthera originally had agreed to provide lo million N95 masks to FEMAby May 1. The
contract had been extended once to May 11, FEMA has said.
A FEMA spokeswoman said the contract was canceled Tuesday "on the grounds of
nondeliveiy." FEMA has said it wouldn't pay Panthera until the masks were delivered.
Jim PuneUi, a Panthera co-owner, didn't immediately return a request for comment. Mr.
Punelli previously said the entity supplying the masks isn't in bankruptcy and has a
successful history as a government contracter. He also said he was confident he would
deliver the masks on time.
A fédéral officiai said Panthera requested a second extension of four additional days,
which FEMA rejected.
When it gave Panthera the contract, the officiai said, FEMA followed standard fédéral
contracting procédures, and it initially believed the vendor would be able to deliver on
the promised masks.
Panthera's two owners have been accused of fi:aud in lawsuits by business
associâtes—which the owners deny—and both had 1RS tax liens filed against them in
2018 for alleged unpaid taxes, The Wall Street Journal reported last month.
Panthera's parent company operated a security-
CORONAVIRUS RESOURCES
training facility in West Virginia that had some
small fédéral contracta, according to government
contracting databases, but ran into financial
trouble and filed for bankruptcy last year.
Live Updates: Coronavirus and Business
What We Know About the Virus
Information on Coronavirus en Espanol
Navigating Your Life During a Pandémie Panthera Worldwide, the entity that won the big
A Guide to State Coronavirus Reonenings FEMA contract, is listed in fédéral databases as
having one prior fédéral contract, for which it was
paid $50,000.
A world-wide shortage of N95 masks, so called because they filter out 95% of small
particles, has spawned a chaotic marketplace of intermediaries, counterfeits and
newcomers seeking outsize profits.
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FEMA Cancels $55.5 Million Mask Contract With Panthera - WSJ
Page 3 of 3
The fédéral government bas placed more than $iio million in mask orders at high prices
with unproven vendors, the Journal reported last month, after a review of fédéral
contracting data.
Of the more than 20 million N95 masks the fédéral government ordered for full deliveiy
by the end of May, the Journal reported, at least 80% were ordered from suppliera that
were either first-time fédéral contractors or had only taken on small prior contracta that
didn't include médical supplies.
Write to Mark Maremont at mark.maremont@ wsi .com
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FEMA cancels $55 million mask contract |
TheHill
FEMA cancels $55 million masi
contract
BY MARTY JOHNSON - 05/12/20 09;63 PM EDT
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The Fédéral Errergency Management Agency (FEMA) said Tuesday that it
canceied a muitimillion-doiiar contract for surgical masks that it had
signed with a Virginia-based firm that lacked a historv of produdng
médical equipment.
The administration had said last month that the contract with Panthera
Worldwide, which describes itseif as a tacticai training company, was
worth $55 million. The contract was canceied Tuesday"on the grounds of
nondelivery," a FEMA spokesperson toid The Waii Street Journal.
The contract oriqinaiiv stated that Panthera was to provide FEMA with 10
million N95 masks by May 1, and the agency said the deadiine was
extended to May 11. One officiai toid the Journal that Panthera had
requested an additional four-day extension, but FEMA denied the request.
The Journal reported last month that both of Panthera's owners have been
accused of fraud and that the 1RS had field tax liens against them in 2018.
Additionally, Panthera's parent company filed for bankruptcy last year.
Panthera itseif had won only one other government contract before, the
Journal noted.
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The company did not return the newspqoer's request for comment on
Tuesday. The Hill has reached out to FEMA and Panthera for comment.
https://thehili.com/homenews/adminislration/497478-fema-cancels-55-miIIion-mask-contr... 5/13/2020
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FEMA cancels $55 million mask contract I TheHill
Because of a global shortage of N95 respirators, the market for them has
been chaotic since the onset of the coronavirus pandémie.
Related News
b,
in total, the fédéral government has spent more than $110 million in
contracts for the much needed masks, the Journal reported last month. At
least 80 percent of the companies that the government contracted out to
make the masks were either first-time government contractors or had only
completed small-scale fédéral contracts previousiy, the newspaper
reported.
TAOS FEMA CORONAVIRUS N95 MASKS
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https://thehill.com/homenews/administration/497478-tema-cancels-55-million-mask-contr... 5/13/2020
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