FEMA cancels $55.5 million contract for masks with company that has no history of selling masks


May 12, 2020 By Associated Press


Panthera failed to provide 10 million N95 face masks by deadline

N95 particulate respirators. Bloomberg News

The federal government said it canceled a $55.5 million contract for respiratory masks, signed last month with a small Virginia firm with no history in the mask business and a parent company in bankruptcy.

The no-bid contract, with Panthera Worldwide LLC, was one of the largest mask orders signed by the Federal Emergency Management Agency, as it has raced in recent weeks to find masks and other protective equipment during the coronavirus pandemic.


Panthera originally had agreed to provide 10 million N95 masks to FEMA by 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 nondelivery.” FEMA has said it wouldn’t pay Panthera until the masks were delivered.

Panthera’s two owners have been accused of fraud in lawsuits by business associates—which the owners deny—and both had IRS tax liens filed against them in 2018 for alleged unpaid taxes, The Wall Street Journal reported last month.