COVENTRY, Conn. — A Coventry builder has pled guilty to charges that he used false information to obtain $100,000 in COVID relief loans he was not entitled to receive.
John Matava, 59, of Coventry, pleaded guilty Tuesday before in Bridgeport to offenses related to his receipt of COVID-19 relief funds.
Prosecutors said that in April 2020, Matava applied to Celtic Bank for a $100,000 PPP loan for his construction company. The application submission included several false representations, including that the company had eight employees and an average monthly payroll of $40,000; that the funds would be used for payroll, lease, mortgage, interest and utilities; and that the business owner was not subject to pending formal criminal charges.
At the time of the PPP loan application, there were no records of payroll or employees with the Connecticut Department of Labor for Matava's company, and prosecutors said Matava was subject to criminal charges in two pending cases related to arrests in 2017 and 2018.
On April 22, 2020, Celtic Bank disbursed $100,000 to a bank account for the company on which Matava was the signatory.
The account was opened on April 21, 2020, and had a balance of $0 immediately prior to the loan funds being disbursed. Between April 2020 and January 2021, Matava used the funds primarily for personal expenditures, including $3,498 to pay a dog breeder, $4,777 for payments to an RV superstore in Connecticut, and legal fees, including a $2,000 retainer, for four court cases in Rockville Superior Court.
In January 2021, Matava tried to obtain $100,000 in additional PPP funds from Celtic Bank and included with the application several additional false statements and fraudulent tax documents. Celtic Bank denied the application.
Matava was arrested on January 7, 2023. He pleaded guilty to one count of wire fraud affecting a financial institution, which carries a maximum term of imprisonment of 30 years, and to one count of making an illegal monetary transaction, which carries a maximum term of imprisonment of 10 years.
Judge Dooley scheduled sentencing for March 29.
Matava is released on a $60,000 bond, in-home detention, pending sentencing.
Individuals with information about allegations of fraud involving COVID-19 are encouraged to 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: https://www.justice.gov/disaster-fraud/ncdf-disaster-complaint-form.
Doug Stewart is a Senior Digital Content Producer at FOX61 News. He can be reached at dstewart@fox61.com.
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