Ossur Americas: Foreign-Made Products, American on Paper

In the Ossur Americas Army settlement, the company paid $500,000 to resolve allegations that it supplied foreign-made prosthetic, bracing and support products while falsely certifying U.S. manufacture. The Justice Department said the Army contracts expressly required Buy American compliance. If you handled the products or their origin certifications, the allegation puts a familiar business question at the center of a federal fraud case: did the manufacturing history match what the company told its customer?

The Justice Department announced the False Claims Act settlement on March 26, 2014. The alleged sales occurred in 2005 and 2006, involved hundreds of products, and included prosthetic components for wounded soldiers.

What the Army Certification Concerned

The Buy American Act gives domestic products a preference in federal purchasing. In Ossur’s case, the Justice Department alleged that the company certified all its products as U.S.-manufactured while supplying the Army with foreign-made goods. That is the central comparison in Buy American fraud in defense contracts: the origin promised to the buyer and the origin of the goods supplied.

Ossur was a prosthetics supplier headquartered in Foothill Ranch, California. We see the problem plainly: an American business address cannot turn a foreign-made product into an American-made one. When the government buys on a domestic-origin promise, a false certification cheats taxpayers and the suppliers competing on that promise.

What Happened After Ossur Learned of the Sales

According to the Justice Department, Ossur became aware of the sales at issue in early 2006 and entered the Defense Department’s Voluntary Disclosure Program in December of that year. The Defense Criminal Investigative Service investigated.

In conjunction with the disclosure, Ossur distributed instruction sheets to sales representatives and trained management officials to support future Buy American compliance. The company’s discovery also creates a useful dividing point when we examine a similar case. What employees knew about the products, what they told management, and what changed in the sales instructions can connect an origin discrepancy to decisions inside the business. We examine those communications alongside the certifications and government sales they concern.

How to Prove Country of Origin?

Country-of-origin evidence connects the manufacturing history of a product to the origin certification used for the government sale. In a case like Ossur’s, we would compare the manufacturing and supplier records for the Army’s products with the domestic-origin promise in the contract.

The supply chain can separate the business selling an item from the business making it. Manufacturers, distributors and vendors can occupy different positions in defense purchasing, so a purchase order may identify a seller while further supplier records identify the factory. Your knowledge of that relationship may explain why the certification and the purchasing records tell different stories.

The sourcing requirement determines which manufacturing facts matter. Under defense domestic-sourcing rules, Buy American treatment of ordinary manufactured products considers where the finished item was made and the origin of its components. Other requirements reach further back: the Berry Amendment covers specified goods such as clothing and textiles, while specialty-metals restrictions concern where covered metal was melted or produced. A final assembly location cannot answer all of those questions. We work through the applicable contract with you so the origin evidence addresses the promise actually made to the government.

When the Government Sees the Seller but Not the Supply Chain

A Government Accountability Office review of the F-35 supply chain shows how much can sit behind an American origin entry. Of 115 active related defense contracts identified for fiscal years 2020 through 2024, 114 listed U.S. country of origin. Yet the available origin information was estimated to cover less than 10 percent of contributing suppliers.

That gap matters to an employee who knows the factory behind a distributor’s name. A contract entry describes the government’s purchase, while the supplier trail reaches the businesses contributing the parts and materials. The review illustrates why we look beyond the name on the government order when examining a domestic-origin claim. The purchasing staff’s knowledge can connect an apparently domestic sale to the manufacturing history further down the chain.

The Same Origin Problem in Army Scientific Instruments

Instec faced allegations that it falsely certified Chinese-manufactured scientific instruments as domestic in federal sales, including sales to the Army and Navy. In its September 7, 2022 announcement, the Justice Department said the company and its owner and president agreed to pay $625,000 to resolve the allegations. A former employee brought the qui tam case.

The useful parallel is the manufacturing fact behind the certification. Prosthetic components and scientific instruments are different products, but in both cases the government alleged that foreign-made goods reached federal buyers with false domestic-origin representations. An employee who knows the manufacturer may recognize the discrepancy that the certification conceals.

What Proof Do You Need as a Whistleblower?

The useful evidence connects the product, the certification and the government purchase. We examine the sourcing requirement alongside the manufacturing records, purchase orders, receiving or acceptance records, and invoices for the same goods. That connects what you know about origin to the representation and the government payment it supported. Your knowledge of a supplier or factory becomes more useful when we can connect it to the products on that government bill.

Different jobs provide different parts of that account. If you worked in purchasing, you may know which supplier actually made the goods. If you handled Army orders, you may know which products went to that customer. If you prepared certifications or invoices, you may know how the domestic-origin claim accompanied the sale. We bring those pieces together with you and examine who had the information that contradicted the certification.

A whistleblower case under the False Claims Act can pay 15% to 30% of what the government recovers. We assess a defense contractor whistleblower claim around the specific goods, representations and payments your knowledge can connect. Speak to one of our Whistleblower Experts about what you know.

When You Know the Factory Behind the Certification

If you know the manufacturing records contradict what an Army supplier certified, speak to one of our Whistleblower Experts about the products and the sale. We build your strongest Buy American whistleblower case with you, bring in defense procurement whistleblower lawyers who understand domestic-origin claims, and stay alongside you as the case moves forward.