Settlement: Valve Maker Pays $774,812 For Pandemic Loan

$774,812.51 is the amount Carten-Fujikin Inc. will pay to settle federal allegations regarding a pandemic relief loan. The Delaware corporation, which operates out of Cheshire, Connecticut, reached the agreement with the Department of Justice to resolve claims that it improperly obtained $500,000 through the Paycheck Protection Program. U.S. Attorney for Delaware Benjamin L. Wallace announced the resolution on October 30, 2026.

Federal officials stated that the company failed to meet the program's eligibility rules. Carten-Fujikin and its affiliated entities employed more than 300 people, exceeding the headcount limit set for the second round of loans. Additionally, the company's ownership structure included operations in China, which restricted eligibility for the specific funding round it utilized.

The loan was processed in January 2021 under the second round of the program, which Congress authorized in early 2021 with stricter requirements than the initial March 2020 rollout. Applicants for these loans had to certify that their total workforce, including domestic and foreign affiliates, did not exceed 300 employees. They also had to confirm that no entity holding a 20 percent ownership stake maintained significant operations in China or Hong Kong.

Carten-Fujikin manufactures valve products and integrated gas systems for the semiconductor industry. It is wholly owned by Fujikin of America Inc., which is in turn owned by Fujikin Incorporated, a Japanese firm. Federal records indicate that Fujikin Japan operated multiple locations in China through its subsidiary, Fujikin of China Incorporated, creating the foreign operational link that affected the loan's validity.

The company received the $500,000 loan around January 28, 2021. The loan was subsequently forgiven by the U.S. Small Business Administration. The settlement includes a share of the recovered funds for a whistleblower who filed the original suit under the False Claims Act, a statute that allows private individuals to bring claims on behalf of the government. The specific amount awarded to the whistleblower was not disclosed.

The civil settlement resolves the allegations against Carten-Fujikin but does not constitute a formal judicial finding of liability. The Department of Justice continues to accept reports of suspected fraud related to federal relief funds through the National Center for Disaster Fraud.