William Felcon, 66, of Manhasset Hills has been sentenced to 50 hours of community service after pleading guilty to fraudulently securing loans from the U.S. Small Business Administration in May, according to Manhattan District Attorney Alvin L. Bragg’s office.
Felcon’s plea, entered in May for second-degree grand larceny, led to the forfeiture of $175,000 seized from his corporate accounts and $36,000 paid from his personal funds to settle debts owed to the SBA.
The legal proceedings also involved Felcon’s nephew, Thomas A. Felcon, 42, of Howard Beach, who also pleaded guilty to second-degree attempted grand larceny in May. Thomas Felcon’s was sentenced to six months at Rikers Island for his involvement.
“While New York businesses were in dire need of financial support during the pandemic, William and Thomas Felcon defrauded the system and obtained loans from the U.S. Small Business Administration by lying on their applications,” said Bragg. “We will not allow public programs to be raided and used as a personal piggybank for greedy individuals and companies.”
Legal actions were taken after an investigation by the district attorney’s Rackets Bureau that included the use of wire taps.
This investigation, prompted by suspicions check-cashing activity, uncovered a network of fraudulent schemes as a byproduct of their efforts.
These included a campaign finance fraud supporting New York City Mayor Eric Adams’ election campaign, multi-million-dollar cash payroll insurance fraud, minority and women-owned business enterprise-related fraud, as well as public assistance fraud.
Thomas Felcon’s controlled companies, The Nebula Group and GPT Property Consultants Inc., each pleaded guilty to a first-degree scheme to defraud, resulting in the forfeiture of around $650,000 seized from their accounts.
These funds are earmarked for restitution to the SBA, covering a total of $409,000 siphoned from the Paycheck Protection Program and additional funds acquired deceptively from the Economic Injury Disaster Loan program.
William Felcon’s companies, A L One Inc. and A L One Consulting Inc., both operating in New Hyde Park, pleaded guilty to a scheme to defraud as well.
In total, the companies gained more than $600,000 in PPP loans from several private lenders and got loan advances and more than $1 million in EIDL loans for which they were not eligible.
In their pleas, both Felcons admitted to making false statements in loan applications to unlawfully acquire PPP funds from both the SBA and SBA-authorized lending institutions.
They submitted deceptive information in multiple loan applications, including incorrect details about the companies’ workforce size, payroll figures, and the designated purpose of the loan funds for the PPP and EIDL initiatives.
Although the loan initiatives were specifically made to aid businesses in maintaining their workforce during the urgent period of the coronavirus pandemic, it was revealed that none of the implicated companies possessed any actual employees or related payroll expenses throughout the duration of the illicit scheme.