Ohio Business Owner Charged With Selling China-Made Body Armor as Made in US

The Ohioan sold body armor plates to numerous law enforcement agencies in the United States, according to prosecutors.

The Department of Justice (DOJ) in Washington on Jan. 9, 2025. Madalina Vasiliu/The Epoch Times

An Ohio businessman has been charged for allegedly importing China-made body armor plates and selling them as American-made goods to many law enforcement agencies in the United States.

Vall Iliev, 69, of Stow, is accused of importing substandard body armor plates through Chinese business associates with whom he conspired, according to a Feb. 26 press release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Ohio.

He allegedly instructed his employees to label these products as “Made in Stow, Ohio,” and to affix counterfeit trademarks from the U.S. National Institute of Justice (NIJ) to the Chinese imports. Iliev then sold these rebranded products through his two businesses, ShotStop Ballistics and Vallmar Studios.

The NIJ—the research, evaluation, and technology agency of the Department of Justice—has been setting voluntary body armor standards in the United States since 1972. It administers a program to test how well armor plates can resist various bullet impacts without being penetrated. The armors are then ranked according to the NIJ grading system, with Level IV being the highest level of bulletproofing.

ShotStop Ballistics, founded in 2015, allegedly marketed its Chinese products as Level III and Level IV body armor plates, according to prosecutors.

Some of the fake NIJ labels designated the Chinese goods as being “Level III+” or “Level IV+HD” certified, which “are non-existent designations,” prosecutors added.

Iliev’s two businesses previously had NIJ certification to manufacture Level III and Level IV body armor plates, according to prosecutors, allowing them to market their products as American-made goods.

The Chinese imports were never tested under NIJ’s standards, which “are crucial for buyers to make informed purchases about a product’s safety levels,” according to prosecutors.

Iliev’s alleged scheme went on from October 2017 to October 2023, according to a court document.

The defendant “regularly sent patents, detailed NIJ specifications, and manufacturing instructions” to his co-conspirators in China via emails, the court document said.

In May 2023, customs officials at the Blaine port of entry in Washington intercepted a truck carrying more than 200 body armor plates concealed in “pre-packaged boxes within a larger shipping container,” a technique prosecutors said was being used by smugglers to evade detection.

The boxes, which originated from China, were addressed to Vallmar Studios, which the prosecutors said served as a warehouse for the defendant.

In October 2023, investigators discovered thousands of China-made body armor plates at ShotStop Ballistics and Vallmar Studios but found no equipment for manufacturing Level III or Level IV body armor plates at both locations, according to the court document. They did find a laser printer that could be used to print fake labels.

Investigators also found that the two companies “maintained electronic records of sales invoices to numerous law enforcement agencies in the United States and elsewhere” for body armor plates from 2017 to 2023, according to the court document.

Iliev is charged with conspiracy to smuggle goods into the United States, conspiracy to traffic counterfeit goods, and conspiracy to commit mail and fire fraud, according to the court document.

The Epoch Times contacted Iliev’s attorney for comment but did not receive a response by publication time.

ShotStop Ballistics

ShotStop Ballistics was dissolved in November 2023, following investigators’ discovery a month earlier, as reported in the court document.

According to a bankruptcy petition, the company filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy protection in May 2024.

The company had about $357,015 in estimated assets and $642,200 in liabilities, the bankruptcy petition states, with reported annual revenue of nearly $5 million for 2023 and over $4.5 million for 2022.

On Oct. 8, 2024, 56 customers of ShotStop Ballistics filed warranty claims against the company in its Chapter 7 liquidation proceedings, according to a court document.

The 56 creditors included law enforcement agencies, such as the Akron Police Department in Ohio, the Columbus Division of Police in Ohio, the Stow Police Department in Ohio, the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department, the Alaska State Troopers, the Department of Homeland Security in Kansas City, Missouri, and the U.S. Marshall’s Service in Tucson, Arizona.

Others included gear retailers and security companies, as well as the NASA Glenn Research Center in Ohio, the City of Berkeley in California, and the Pennsylvania Sheriff’s Association.

In fiscal year 2024, U.S. Customs and Border Protection seized more than 32 million counterfeit items, which would have been worth more than $5.4 billion if they had been genuine, according to a report.

The report also found that counterfeit goods from China and Hong Kong accounted for about 90 percent of the total quantity seized.