Evil Corporations · Corporate Accountability Reporting
Federal Criminal Case · 26 Felony Counts
KBC Capital Sold Illegal Silencer Parts for Three Years While Regulators Collected Nothing
A New Hampshire company transferred suppressor components 26 times without ATF approval or NFA tax payments, putting unregistered weapon parts into circulation from 2020 through 2023.
TL;DR
KBC Capital, LLC, a company based in Nashua, New Hampshire, spent at least three years selling suppressor parts without following a single rule the National Firearms Act requires. No ATF application. No approval. No tax paid. Federal prosecutors charged the company with 26 felony counts in July 2024, covering transfers that took place as far back as April 2020. The investigation required four separate federal agencies: ATF, DEA, HSI, and USPIS. That level of multi-agency attention signals this was not a paperwork oversight. This was a company that treated federal firearms law as optional while putting unregistered silencer components into the market.
Demand that federal regulators close the loopholes that allow companies to treat NFA compliance as optional. The public deserves accountability, not settlements.
26
Federal Felony Counts
3+
Years of Illegal Transfers
4
Federal Agencies Investigating
3
Suppressor Part Models Transferred
⚠️ Core Allegations
Core Allegations: What KBC Capital Did
Direct violations charged by federal prosecutors
| 01 | KBC Capital, LLC knowingly and unlawfully transferred suppressor parts on 26 separate occasions between April 2020 and September 2023. | High |
| 02 | Every single transfer occurred without a proper ATF application and without receiving approval, as required by the National Firearms Act. | High |
| 03 | The company paid no NFA tax on any of the 26 transfers, bypassing the mandatory $200 federal tax that exists specifically to regulate and track NFA items. | High |
| 04 | Three distinct suppressor part models (M-079, M-099, and M-074) were transferred illegally, indicating this was a systematic, multi-product operation rather than an isolated incident. | High |
| 05 | The single largest cluster of illegal transfers occurred on August 3, 2023, when KBC Capital transferred 12 M-099 suppressor parts in a single day. | High |
| 06 | Federal prosecutors filed a criminal information rather than an indictment, a procedural choice that typically signals a cooperation agreement or guilty plea is anticipated. | Med |
Regulatory Failures: How Oversight Broke Down
Three years of transfers before federal action
| 01 | KBC Capital conducted illegal transfers for over three years before federal criminal charges were filed, a timeline that raises serious questions about how long this conduct went undetected. | High |
| 02 | Four separate federal agencies (ATF, DEA, HSI, and USPIS) were required to build the case, suggesting the investigation was complex and the conduct crossed multiple regulatory domains. | High |
| 03 | The NFA registration and tax system exists precisely to prevent unregistered suppressors from entering circulation without federal oversight; KBC Capital bypassed this system entirely for years. | High |
| 04 | The involvement of DEA alongside ATF suggests possible connections to drug trafficking investigations, which frequently involve illegal suppressors used to conceal criminal activity. | Med |
Accountability Failures: Who Bears the Consequences
Corporate liability and the question of individual accountability
| 01 | The charges name only KBC Capital, LLC as the defendant. No individual officers, owners, or employees are named in the criminal information, raising the question of whether any person will face personal consequences. | High |
| 02 | Upon conviction, the company faces forfeiture of all firearms and ammunition involved in the offenses; if those assets cannot be located, prosecutors can pursue other company property of equivalent value. | Med |
| 03 | Corporate criminal charges against an LLC, without parallel charges against the individuals who made the decisions to conduct these transfers, is a pattern that allows the people responsible to insulate themselves behind the corporate structure. | High |
| 04 | Each count carries a potential sentence of up to 10 years in federal prison under 26 U.S.C. 5861(e), but because only the LLC is charged, no individual faces incarceration. | High |
Public Safety Impact: Unregistered Suppressors in Circulation
What illegal suppressor sales mean for communities
| 01 | Suppressors transferred without NFA registration cannot be tracked by law enforcement, creating weapons components with no paper trail if they end up at crime scenes. | High |
| 02 | The NFA registration requirement for suppressors is specifically designed to prevent these devices from being used to conceal gunfire in criminal activity; KBC Capital’s transfers bypassed this public safety mechanism entirely. | High |
| 03 | At least 26 suppressor parts transferred by KBC Capital entered circulation without any of the federal vetting or tracking that registered NFA items carry, with no known accounting of where those parts went. | High |
| 04 | The presence of DEA in the investigating team suggests federal authorities may have been examining links between these illegal suppressor transfers and drug trafficking or organized criminal networks. | Med |
The System Working as Intended for the Powerful
Why corporations evade NFA rules while individuals face prosecution
| 01 | An individual caught with a single unregistered suppressor faces the same federal charge (26 U.S.C. 5861) as KBC Capital faces for 26 transfers; the difference is that the individual faces personal prison time, while the LLC faces fines and forfeiture. | High |
| 02 | The corporate structure of an LLC creates a legal firewall that shields the decision-makers behind KBC Capital from the personal consequences that ordinary people face for violating the same firearms laws. | High |
| 03 | Federal firearms enforcement consistently prioritizes individual possession cases over corporate trafficking cases; KBC Capital’s three-year operation before prosecution illustrates this imbalance. | Med |
🕐 Timeline of Events
April 2020
KBC Capital conducts its earliest documented illegal suppressor part transfer (M-074, Count 24), beginning what prosecutors say is a pattern of unlawful NFA violations.
Oct. 2020
A second M-074 transfer occurs (Count 23), continuing the pattern of unregistered suppressor part sales with no ATF application or tax payment.
March 2022
Additional M-074 transfers (Count 22) recorded. The company has now conducted illegal transfers across two full years without federal intervention.
Sept. 2022
First M-079 suppressor part transfer charged (Count 1), introducing a new part model into the pattern of illegal sales.
Nov. 2022
Second M-079 transfer (Count 2). Multiple part models now moving through KBC Capital’s unregistered pipeline.
Feb. 2023
Third M-079 transfer (Count 3). The pace of transfers appears to accelerate into 2023.
May 2023
First M-099 transfers (Counts 4 and 5) and additional M-074 transfers (Count 21) occur. The company introduces a third suppressor part model into its illegal sales activity.
Aug. 3, 2023
The single largest documented day of illegal activity: KBC Capital transfers 12 separate M-099 suppressor parts (Counts 6 through 20) in a single day without any ATF approval.
Sept. 2023
Final documented illegal transfer occurs. Federal investigators are building their case.
July 31, 2024
U.S. Attorney Joshua S. Levy files a 26-count criminal information against KBC Capital, LLC in the District of Massachusetts. Investigating agencies: ATF, DEA, HSI, and USPIS.
💬 Direct Quotes from the Legal Record
QUOTE 1
The core criminal allegation, verbatim
Core Allegations
“knowingly and unlawfully transferred the following suppressor parts, without proper application and approval and without paying the requisite tax”
💡 “Knowingly and unlawfully” is prosecutors’ language for deliberate, intentional crime. This was not an accident or a misunderstanding of the rules.
QUOTE 2
The forfeiture clause: what the government can seize
Accountability Failures
“shall forfeit to the United States… any firearm or ammunition involved in the offenses”
💡 The penalty on conviction is forfeiture of the illegal goods. No mention of fines proportionate to profit earned from the unlawful transfers.
QUOTE 3
Substitute assets provision: the government can reach other property
Accountability Failures
“to seek forfeiture of any other property of the defendant up to the value of the property described”
💡 If the illegal parts cannot be found or have been transferred to third parties, the government can seize other company assets of equivalent value, a meaningful enforcement tool.
QUOTE 4
The time span of documented violations
Core Allegations
“From in or about 2017 through in or around September 2023”
💡 The information states the conduct began “in or about 2017,” though charges only cover documented transfers from 2020. This suggests the illegal activity may predate the charged offenses by years.
QUOTE 5
The statutory violation at the core of every count
Regulatory Failures
“in violation of Title 26, United States Code, Section 5812”
💡 Section 5812 is the NFA’s transfer approval requirement. Every transfer of a registered NFA item requires ATF approval before the transfer occurs. KBC Capital skipped this step 26 times.
QUOTE 6
The forfeiture conditions that protect the government’s recovery ability
Accountability Failures
“has been transferred or sold to, or deposited with, a third party… has been placed beyond the jurisdiction of the Court”
💡 Prosecutors anticipated that KBC Capital might have already moved or sold the illegal items. These clauses ensure the government can still pursue full forfeiture value even if the specific parts are gone.
💬 Commentary
What exactly did KBC Capital do wrong?
▾
Federal law under the National Firearms Act requires anyone transferring a suppressor or suppressor parts to first apply to the ATF, get written approval, and pay a $200 tax per transfer. KBC Capital did none of this across 26 documented transfers over at least three years. The company moved suppressor components like they were ordinary merchandise, with no government record and no tax paid. That is not a gray area: every transfer is a separate federal felony.
Is this a serious case or a technicality?
▾
This is a serious federal criminal case. The charges carry potential sentences of up to 10 years per count under federal law. Four separate federal agencies (ATF, DEA, HSI, and USPIS) investigated, which is not the response to a paperwork technicality. The involvement of the DEA in particular signals that federal authorities may have been looking at connections between these suppressor transfers and drug trafficking or other serious criminal activity. The NFA registration system exists specifically to prevent untraceable weapons and weapon components from entering circulation. KBC Capital dismantled that safeguard 26 times.
Why does it matter that no individual was charged?
▾
When only an LLC is charged, the people who actually made the decisions to conduct illegal transfers face no personal consequences. The corporate structure absorbs the penalty. The company may pay fines or forfeit assets, but no one goes to prison. An ordinary person caught with a single unregistered suppressor faces the same felony charge and real prison time. The people who ran KBC Capital and directed these 26 illegal transfers are insulated by the corporate form. That is not equal justice.
What does “criminal information” mean versus an indictment?
▾
A criminal indictment goes to a grand jury for a vote. A criminal information is filed directly by prosecutors, and a defendant must waive their right to a grand jury to proceed this way. In federal practice, this almost always means the defendant has agreed to plead guilty and is cooperating with prosecutors. KBC Capital almost certainly reached a pre-negotiated deal with the government before this information was filed on July 31, 2024.
How long had this been going on?
▾
The criminal information explicitly states the conduct ran “from in or about 2017 through in or around September 2023.” The specific charges cover transfers from April 2020 forward, but the document acknowledges the activity began years earlier. That means KBC Capital may have been conducting illegal suppressor transfers for as long as six years before federal charges were filed. The question of why it took this long to prosecute demands an answer.
Where did the suppressor parts go?
▾
The criminal information does not identify where the 26 suppressor parts were transferred. They could have gone to licensed dealers, private buyers, or end-users unknown to the public record. Because these transfers happened outside the NFA registration system, there is no federal record of who received them or where they are now. That is precisely why unregistered suppressor transfers are dangerous: the parts become untraceable the moment they leave without documentation.
Why was DEA involved in a firearms case?
▾
The DEA investigates drug trafficking. Its involvement alongside ATF in a suppressor transfer case strongly suggests federal investigators were examining whether these illegal suppressor parts were connected to drug trafficking networks. Suppressors are frequently used by drug trafficking organizations to commit violence while minimizing noise and detection. The criminal information is silent on this connection, but the DEA’s presence in the investigation is significant.
What can I do to prevent this from happening again?
▾
Contact your federal representatives and demand that prosecutors in firearms cases pursue charges against individual decision-makers, not just the corporate entity. Support whistleblower protection legislation that encourages insiders to report illegal firearms dealing before it runs for years. Follow the outcome of this case: if KBC Capital receives only a fine and forfeiture with no individual accountability, make that outcome public. Corporate impunity in firearms trafficking thrives in silence.
Click on this link for a source on this scandal from the Department of Justice’s website: https://www.justice.gov/usao-ma/media/1362366/dl
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