U.S. Attorney's Office, Texas, Southern, "International ocean bottom seismic operations company pays over $4 million to settle False Claims Act allegations" (Dec. 18, 2025)
Summary
Press release of December 18, 2025 from the United States Attorney's Office for the Southern District of Texas, issued from Houston, announcing that Magseis FF LLC, a Houston-based provider of ocean bottom node seismic acquisition services and in 2020 and 2021 a subsidiary of a Norway-owned group, paid $4,155,333 to resolve allegations that it fraudulently secured Paycheck Protection Program funds. From March 23, 2021 to Jan. 11, 2022 the company applied for a Second Draw loan and requested forgiveness; such loans required fewer than 300 employees or compliance with industry size limits, counting all affiliated employees, and the settlement resolves allegations that the company misrepresented its total employee count. The company cooperated throughout, and the claims are allegations only.
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Cite this document
“U.S. Attorney's Office, Texas, Southern, ‘International ocean bottom seismic operations company pays over $4 million to settle False Claims Act allegations’ (Dec. 18, 2025).”
Original at www.justice.gov. Archived at Pandemic Darlings, https://pandemicdarlings.com/source-documents/u-s-attorney-s-office-texas-southern-international-ocean-bottom-seismi-184dc8c3cc/
, SHA-256 c7a3fc8892f47ffbabdde887b0da2cc95305d4eb5cd17a68480e51b38064afd2.Full text
HOUSTON – A Houston-based company that provides ocean bottom node seismic acquisition services to energy companies has paid to resolve allegations of fraudulently securing Paycheck Protection Program loans, announced U.S. Attorney Nicholas J. Ganjei. In 2020 and 2021, Magseis FF LLC was a subsidiary of Magseis FF AS, which Norway-based Magseis Fairfield ASA owned. The company and its affiliates offer 3D and 4D data services to oil and gas exploration and production companies. From March 23, 2021, to Jan. 11, 2022, Magseis applied for a “Second Draw” PPP loan and requested forgiveness. The CARES Act created the PPP to provide forgivable loans to small businesses affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. To qualify for these loans, companies had to have fewer than 300 employees or meet industry-specific size limits. Those with shared ownership had to count all affiliated employees. The settlement resolves allegations that Magseis misrepresented its total employee count to obtain PPP funds and loan forgiveness. The company has now paid $4,155,333 to resolve the claims and has cooperated throughout the investigation. The U.S. Attorney’s Office conducted the investigation in coordination with the Small Business Administration. Assistant U.S. Attorney Paul B. Moore is handling the matter along with Attorney Amber Perez, Office of General Counsel for the SBA. The claims resolved by the settlement are allegations only and there has been no determination of liability.
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