CONCORD, N.H. — A New Hampshire man was sentenced to federal prison on Thursday for fraudulently using more than $1 million of pandemic relief funds to buy a golf course, U.S. Attorney Erin Creegan said.
Michael Kirouac, 38, of Pembroke, was sentenced to 15 months in prison and one year of supervised release, Creegan said in a statement.
On Oct. 3, 2025, Kirouac pleaded guilty to one count of wire fraud.
“The defendant stole over a million dollars from taxpayers amidst one of the worst health and economic crises in a century,” Creegan said. “This office will continue to vigilantly investigate and prosecute those who defraud pandemic relief programs.”
During the early part of the coronavirus pandemic, Congress passed the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act.
The CARES Act included multiple relief provisions to help the millions of Americans and many small businesses adversely affected by the pandemic, including the Paycheck Protection Program. Private lenders could participate in the PPP.
The loans, which were supposed to be used for payroll, were fully guaranteed by the government. If borrowers used the PPP loans for payroll and other approved expenses as intended, they could apply for loan forgiveness.
The CARES Act also opened up the Small Business Administration’s Economic Injury Disaster Loan program. As with PPP loans, EIDL loans were supposed to be used for payroll and other business expenses, such as rent and mortgage.
Prosecutors said Kirouac owned or controlled four companies: HK Manchester, HK Loudon, HK Hudson, and HK Pelham. He applied for and obtained over $1 million worth of Economic Injury Disaster Loans for the companies.
Kirouac certified that he would use the loan proceeds solely as working capital and would not use the funds for personal expenses or to relocate the businesses from one location to another, prosecutors said.
Beginning in 2021, Kirouac was looking to purchase a golf course.
He was unable to obtain financing from banks and private lenders and instead obtained Economic Injury Disaster Loans on behalf of HK Manchester and HK Loudon, prosecutors said.
Kirouac used approximately $600,000 of Economic Injury Disaster Loans funds intended for HK Manchester and HK Loudon to help purchase the Angus Lea Golf Course in Hillsborough, New Hampshire, prosecutors said.
Kirouac also misused Economic Injury Disaster Loans funds he obtained for HK Pelham, prosecutors said.
Separately, Kirouac obtained a $260,500 Economic Injury Disaster Loan for HK Hudson, prosecutors said. However, Kirouac had already agreed to sell HK Hudson to a third party when he signed for the loan. Kirouac did not disclose that fact to the SBA.
“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,” Demeo said.
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.
This is a developing story. Check back for updates as more information becomes available.
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