Tungsten’s $500,000 Award to Whistleblower in Fraud Case Upheld

San Diego-based Tungsten Heavy Powder Inc. must pay a whistleblower around $500,000 in attorneys’ fees and expenses in a False Claims Act suit that ended in a $5.6 million settlement in 2021, the Ninth Circuit affirmed Thursday.

Whistleblower Gregory Caputo, and Global Tungsten & Powders Corp., sued in 2018 alleging that Tungsten Heavy Powder falsely certified that it sourced product materials—used in munitions—in the United States for items made under a contract with Israel that was funded by the US Defense Security Cooperation Agreement Agency.

Tungsten Heavy Powder was accused of providing tungsten that was actually sourced in China, the ...