Two Canadian steel companies have agreed to pay $19 million to resolve allegations they knowingly failed to pay proper duties on flat-rolled steel manufactured in Europe and Asia, the U.S. Justice Department said Wednesday.
From May 2019 through January 2025, Farjess Inc. and Royal Canadian Steel Inc., along with part-owner and president Feroz Jessani, misrepresented the origin of the steel as Canadian and American, the department said in a news release.
The companies knew the steel was from China, Indonesia, Italy, Turkey or Vietnam, the department said.
A whistleblower broker flagged the two Canadian companies through a provision in the False Claims Act that allows private parties to file lawsuits on behalf of the United States for false claims….