The In this chaotic effort to obtain supplies, the Trump administration awarded a $55 million contract to Panthera Worldwide LLC, a company with no expertise in the world of medical equipment, for N95 masks
James V. Punelli, one of Panthera’s executives, told The Post that the company was working with military contacts to obtain the masks.
Panthera’s parent company filed for bankruptcy protection last fall, and one of its owners last year said it’d had no employees since May 2018, The Post reported, citing sworn testimony. It’s no longer listed as an LLC in Virginia, where its main office is, after fees went unpaid, the newspaper said.
“We will provide these masks before May 1 for certain, in full and with a very high-quality product,” Punelli said, adding that the company is registered as an LLC in Delaware.
The Post reported that the Federal Emergency Management Agency was paying Panthera about $5.50 per mask, decidedly more than what the government pays companies with an established background in producing medical supplies such as 3M, which charges about $0.63 per mask.
- Trump administration has awarded a $55 million contract for N95 masks to a company with no experience producing medical supplies and whose parent company filed for bankruptcy protection last year.
- The Federal Emergency Management Agency told Insider that the company, Panthera, is scheduled to deliver the masks on April 23.
- Former Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel told The Washington Post that something was “amiss” about this order.
https://www.businessinsider.com/fema-paid-bankrupt-company-no-employees-55-million-n95-masks-2020-4