In a first-in-the-nation case, federal authorities have charged two men – one a Warwick resident – with attempting to defraud a small-business loan program established to provide relief during the pandemic.

David Butziger, 51, and another man, 52-year-old David A. Staveley – also known as Kurt D. Sanborn – of Andover, Massachusetts, are accused of conspiring to fraudulently seek more than $500,000 in forgivable loans through the Small Business Administration’s Paycheck Protection Program, or PPP, according to the office of U.S. Attorney Aaron L. Weisman.

Prosecutors say Butziger and Staveley, in seeking the loans, claimed “to have dozens of employees earning wages at four different business entities when, in fact, there were no employees working for any of the businesses.”

The two men are each charged with counts of conspiracy to make false statements to influence the SBA and conspiracy to commit bank fraud. Staveley is additionally charged with aggravated identity theft, while Butziger is also charged with bank fraud.

According to a statement from Weisman’s office, Staveley and Butziger are alleged to have hatched the scheme via email. Staveley then submitted applications for more than $438,500 in loans, claiming to have “dozens of employees” between two restaurants in Warwick – the former Remington House Inn on Post Road in Apponaug and Top of the Bay on Oakland Beach Avenue – and another, On the Trax, in Berlin, Massachusetts.

Prosecutors say a subsequent investigation revealed that neither the Remington House Inn nor On The Trax had been open prior to the onset of the COVID-19 crisis – and that Staveley “did not own or have any role in” Top of the Bay.

The statement from Weisman’s office indicates the town of Berlin revoked the liquor license for On The Trax in March, due in part to Staveley’s misrepresentation that his brother owned the establishment. Staveley is also alleged to have posed as his brother as part of real estate transactions.

Butziger, authorities say, sought a $105,381 PPP loan in April “as owner of an unincorporated entity named Dock Wireless.” He is alleged to have claimed in documentation – and on a call with an undercover FBI agent posing as a bank compliance officer – that he hired seven full-time employees, including himself, in January before laying them off in March.

Prosecutors say an investigation found the Rhode Island Department of Revenue had no records of wages paid by Butziger or Dock Wireless in the current year.

“Agents interviewed several of the supposed Dock Wireless employees who reported that they never worked for Butziger or Dock Wireless,” the statement from Weisman’s office reads.

Staveley and Butziger were arrested Tuesday. Earlier that day, FBI agents were seen at the former Remington House Inn.

Staveley was reportedly arraigned and released on a $10,000 unsecured bond, while Butziger was reportedly released on an unsecured bond.

“Tens of millions of Americans have lost their jobs and have had their lives thrown into chaos because of the coronavirus pandemic,” Weisman said in the statement from his office. “It is unconscionable that anyone would attempt to steal from a program intended to help hard working Americans continue to be paid so they can feed their families and pay some of their bills.”

“Thankfully we were able to stop them before taxpayers were defrauded, but today’s arrests should serve as a warning to others that the FBI and our law enforcement partners will aggressively go after bad actors like them who are utilizing the COVID-19 pandemic as an opportunity to commit fraud,” Joseph R. Bonavolonta, special agent in charge of the FBI’s Boston Field Office, said in the statement.