WESTFIELD — A Westfield man was sentenced to 24 months in prison earlier this month after defrauding the federal government out of approximately $900,000 worth of Covid-19 relief funds.

According to information provided by the United StatesAttorney’s Office, Joseph McKeon, 54, admitted to falsifying documents, payroll stubs, tax record and bank statements in order to qualify for small-business loans issued under the federal Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) when he pled guilty to both wire fraud and money laundering in November of last year.

The PPP, established by the federal government in 2020, allowed smallbusiness owners to apply for low-interest loans to cover the cost of up to eight weeks worth of salaries and benefits for their employees during mandated, pandemic- related shutdown periods.

Court documents indicate that McKeon, who filed PPP applications on behalf of a contracting company called B & T Builders that he purportedly operated out of Westfield, claimed to have over 60 employees and an average monthly payroll of $360,000 when he applied for the loans between February of 2021 and February of 2022.

An investigation by the District of New Jersey Covid-19 Fraud Enforcement Strike Force (one of five task forces established throughout the United States by the U.S. Department of Justice to investigate and prosecute Covid-19 fraud), however, revealed that B&T Builders had no legitimate employees and therefore no payroll expenses to foot.

“After the victim lender funded the loan, McKeon withdrew a significant amount of the loan proceeds as cash and made several large transfers between bank accounts, including one transfer for $315,503.75, that was sent to an Indiana title company,” the U.S. Attorney’s Office said via press release earlier this month.

McKeon, who faced sentencing in a Newark court last week, will serve up to 24 months in prison for his crimes and be required to pay $900,000 in restitution to the U.S. government and submit to two years of supervised release.

U.S. Attorney Alina Habba credited special agents of the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) — Criminal Investigation, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge Jenifer L. Piovesan; special agents of the Social SecurityAdministration, Office of the Inspector General, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge Amy Connely; and special agents of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of New Jersey, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge Thomas Mahoney, with the investigation that led to the sentencing.

McKeon’s case is not unique. According to information provided by the IRS, more than 2,039 cases of Covid-related fraud investigations totaling over $10 billion in losses have been launched since the beginning of the pandemic in 2020.

“These cases include a broad range of criminal activity, including fraudulently obtained loans, credits and payments meant for American workers, families, and small businesses,” the agency notes via its website, which also claims that 1,028 people had been indicted for Covid-related crimes as of February of this year.

Many investigations are still ongoing. Anyone with information about allegations of attempted fraud involving Covid-19 can report it by calling the Department of Justice’s National Center for Disaster Fraud Hotline at (866) 720-5721 or via the NCDF Web Complaint Form at: www.justice.gov/disaster-fraud/ncdfdisaster- complaint-form.