FOR PUBLICATION UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE NINTH CIRCUIT GREGORY CAPUTO, Relator; Ex No. 22-55142 Rel. United States of America; GLOBAL TUNGSTEN & POWDERS D.C. No. CORPORATION, Relator; Ex Rel. 3:18-cv-02352-W- United States of America, AHG Plaintiffs-Appellees, ORDER v.

TUNGSTEN HEAVY POWDER, INC., DBA Tungsten Heavy Powder and Parts, Inc., Defendant-Appellant, GREGORY A. VEGA; RICARDO ARIAS; MEGAN OVERMANN GOETZ; MARINA A. TORRES; THOMAS RUBINSKY; DONALD HAGANS, Real Parties in Interest, 2 CAPUTO V. TUNGSTEN HEAVY POWDER, INC.

and UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, Ex Rel., Real Party in Interest.

Filed March 14, 2024 Before: Marsha S. Berzon, Ryan D. Nelson, and Bridget S. Bade, Circuit Judges.

Order SUMMARY * Sanctions In an appeal by Tungsten Heavy Powder, Inc., from the district court’s award of attorneys’ fees, the panel (1) adopted, with some points of clarification, a special master’s factual findings, (2) adopted in full the special master’s conclusions of law and recommended sanctions and disciplinary actions, and (3) imposed sanctions and disciplinary actions, pursuant to Tungsten Heavy Powder’s stipulation and 28 U.S.C. § 1927 , on Tungsten Heavy Powder and attorneys Gregory A. Vega, Ricardo Arias, and * This summary constitutes no part of the opinion of the court. It has been prepared by court staff for the convenience of the reader.  CAPUTO V. TUNGSTEN HEAVY POWDER, INC. 3 Donald Hagens for misconduct and unreasonable and vexatious multiplication of proceedings.

COUNSEL Marina A. Torres (argued), Halpern May Ybarra Gelberg LLP, Los Angeles, California; Ethan J. Brown and Tom Rickeman, Brown Neri Smith & Khan LLP, Los Angeles, California; for Defendant-Appellant. Jessica H. Sanderson (argued) and Sam D. Finkelstein, Volkov Law Group PC, Washington, D.C., for Plaintiffs- Appellees. Patrick Q. Hall, Law Office of Patrick Q. Hall, San Diego, California, for Real-Parties-in-Interest Gregory A. Vega and Ricardo Arias. Christopher A. Wright, Carney Badley Spellman PS, Seattle, Washington, for-Real-Party-in-Interest Megan Overmann Goetz. Alex M. Weingarten, Willkie Farr & Gallagher LLP, Los Angeles, California, for Real-Party-in-Interest, Marina A. Torres. Joseph J. Ybarra, Halpern May Ybarra Gelberg LLP, Los Angeles, California, for Real-Party-in-Interest Thomas Rubinsky. Donald Hagans, Pro Se, Las Vegas, Nevada, for Real- Party-in-Interest Donald Hagans. 4 CAPUTO V. TUNGSTEN HEAVY POWDER, INC.

ORDER Petitioners Global Tungsten & Powders Corp. (GTP) and Gregory Caputo have filed a motion for sanctions against respondent Tungsten Heavy Powder, Inc. (THP), alleging that THP filed its appeal in bad faith to delay payment of an attorneys’ fee award entered by the District Court for the Southern District of California. The motion alleges that THP misrepresented to this court when it learned of “new evidence” underlying its application for reconsideration of the fee order, the denial of which was the subject of this appeal. THP represented that on October 29, 2021, Dennis Omanoff, a former employee of THP’s corporate affiliate Tungsten Parts Wyoming, Inc. (TPW), “came forward alleging unethical and illegal conduct” by GTP’s counsel. Based in part on a January 27, 2023, filing in Wyoming district court revealing that Omanoff began cooperating with THP in May 2021, GTP and Caputo contend that THP falsely represented that it could not have discovered with due diligence the evidence presented by Omanoff before October 29, 2021. On March 30, 2023, this panel appointed Judge Richard C. Tallman of our Court as Special Master under Rule 48 of the