NH man sentenced for using $1M in COVID relief funds to buy golf course

A New Hampshire man who fraudulently obtained more than $1 million in COVID-19 relief funds and used much of the money to buy a golf course has been sentenced to federal prison, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for New Hampshire announced.

Michael Kirouac, 38, of Pembroke, was sentenced Wednesday to 15 months in prison and one year of supervised release after pleading guilty in October to one count of wire fraud, prosecutors said.

Federal investigators said Kirouac secured more than $1 million in Economic Injury Disaster Loans (EIDLs) through the federal CARES Act. The loans were meant to help small businesses cover payroll and other necessary expenses during the early months of the pandemic.

Instead, authorities said, Kirouac used roughly $600,000 of the funds to help purchase the Angus Lea Golf Course in Hillsborough after he was unable to get private financing.

“The defendant stole over a million dollars from taxpayers amidst one of the worst health and economic crises in a century,” U.S. Attorney Erin Creegan said in a statement. “This office will continue to vigilantly investigate and prosecute those who defraud pandemic relief programs.”

According to court documents, Kirouac owned or controlled four companies: HK Manchester, HK Loudon, HK Hudson, and HK Pelham. Prosecutors said he certified that the EIDL funds would be used as working capital and not for personal expenses or business relocation.

Beginning in 2021, while attempting to buy the golf course, Kirouac obtained EIDL funds on behalf of HK Manchester and HK Loudon and put a large portion of the money toward the purchase, prosecutors said. He also misused funds tied to HK Pelham.

Kirouac also received a $260,500 EIDL loan for HK Hudson even though he had already agreed to sell the company to a third party, authorities said. He didn’t disclose the pending sale to the Small Business Administration when applying for the loan.

“Today’s sentencing of Michael Kirouac demonstrates IRS-CI’s continued commitment to prosecuting all those who took advantage of the CARES Act for their own undue self-enrichment,” said Thomas Demeo, Special Agent in Charge of the Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigation, Boston Field Office. “Kirouac defrauded a federal program designed to help those most in need at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic with the intent of misappropriating these funds to purchase a golf course, while others, who were truly in need, struggled.”

Morgan Rousseau is a freelance writer for Boston.com, where she reports on a variety of local and regional news.