A California construction company CEO has been charged with fraud in allegedly obtaining more than $4 million in paycheck protection loans that were part of federal Covid-19 pandemic relief.
The alleged scheme included creating accounts in the names of his minor children, whom he claimed as employees, and then spending the money on office parks and luxury residential real estate that he subsequently rented out, according to U.S. Attorney Eric Grant.
Joey Wayne Mackey, 45, of Visalia was indicted September 18 in U.S. District Court on six counts of bank fraud and eight counts of money laundering.
He is accused of submitting fraudulent Paycheck Protection Program loan applications for three of his companies, including Forcum-Mackey Construction Inc. of Ivanhoe, of which he is president and CEO. The loans were created to help keep employees on business payrolls during the economic slowdown of the pandemic, and they did not have to be repaid if used for that purpose.
All the applications for the businesses between April and June 2020 overstated employee numbers and payroll costs, leading a bank “to disburse $4,082,550 in funds it otherwise would not have given,” according to the U.S. attorney’s office.
“Over the following months, Mackey laundered the PPP loan funds through fraudulent payroll payments to family members (including his minor children), while Mackey controlled the bank accounts of those family members.”
Then in October 2020, Mackey allegedly withdrew the money from relatives’ accounts to buy “revenue-generating real estate.” The attorney’s office said he continued to make real estate investments with PPP money through at least 2023.
He also applied to have loans forgiven, under the terms of the program, according to an affidavit filed August 29, 2025, by FBI Special Agent Hamilton Hiatt. In an application July 8, 2021, he sought $3.9 million in loan forgiveness from the Small Business Administration. Up until February 10, 2025, the SBA had not denied or approved the forgiveness application. That day, Mackey paid off the loan balance after receiving a pre-indictment plea offer a week before from the U.S. Attorney’s Office, according to the affidavit.
Mackey was denied forgiveness for a $156,325 PPP loan, and he paid off that balance in 2022, the affidavit said.
Mackey has posted a $250,000 bond and faces up to 30 years in prison and a $1 million fine if convicted, according to the attorney’s office.
His arrest stems from an investigation by a California COVID-19 Fraud Enforcement Strike Force established by the U.S. Department of Justice. It involved the FBI, the FDIC Office of Inspector General, and the Small Business Administration Office of Inspector General.
