A New Lenox gun shop owner and his business partner are facing felony charges for fraud and theft of COVID-19 pandemic relief funds.

Jeffery Regnier, the owner of Kee Firearms and Training in New Lenox, and Greta Keranen, with Kee Construction, face charges for various applications filed for Economic Injury Disaster Loan, Paycheck Protection Program and unemployment benefits during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Regnier, who ran unsuccessfully last year in the Republican primary for the 1st Congressional District, faces 14 charges that include one charge each for loan fraud and money laundering and multiple charges of theft, state benefits fraud, wire fraud and filing a fraudulent Illinois sales and use tax return.

Keranen faces multiple charges of loan fraud and charges of wire fraud, and they both face additional charges for theft by deception, according to the criminal complaint filed Feb. 24.

Regnier and Keranen were booked into the Will County Jail on Monday and ordered held on $1 million bond each, according to the Will County sheriff’s office.

The Will County state’s attorney’s office declined to comment on the charges Tuesday.

The pair faces a theft by deception charge because, according to the complaint, on April 1, 2020, Keranen submitted an application for an economic injury disaster loan stating her business, Kee Construction, had revenues of $9.5 million and cost of goods sold at $8.5 million in 2019, which she knew to be false. The pair received a loan amount of $150,000 through the application, according to the complaint.

Regnier faces a charge for loan fraud for filing for an economic injury disaster loan of up to $500,000 on April 1, 2020, which stated that Kee Firearms and Training had revenues of $3 million in 2019 and knowing that representation was false, according to the complaint.

Keranen faces a charge for loan fraud for also filing an application April 1, 2020, to receive a Paycheck Protection Program loan for $160,000 from Old Plank Trail Community Bank stating the funds would be used for payroll, lease payments and utilities for Kee Construction, when the defendant knew that was false, according to the complaint.

The pair faces a theft charge for accepting $47,199 that was approved through the April 1, 2020, Paycheck Protection Program loan application. Keranen’s charges stem from multiple Paycheck Protection Program loan applications she filed through the course of the pandemic, the complaint states.

In August 2020, Regnier submitted a pandemic unemployment assistance claimant questionnaire through the Illinois Department of Employment Security stating he did not work for Kee Construction during the week of June 7-13, 2020, which was false because he received a check from Kee Construction June 8, 2020, issued by Keranen, for $25,638.75, the complaint states.

On Aug. 6, 2020, he received unemployment benefit amount of $12,090, the complaint states.

Regnier faces theft and state benefits fraud charges for filing for this unemployment benefit application, the complaint states.

He also stated in the unemployment questionnaire that from Aug. 6, 2020, to Jan. 8, 2021, he was unable to work due to the pandemic, which was false because he was operating Kee Firearms and Training in that time, and received $28,908 in unemployment benefits in that five-month period, the complaint states.

Regnier faces an additional theft and state benefits fraud charges for this unemployment benefits application, the complaint states.

He faces a money laundering charge for allegedly receiving eight deposits from June 2, 2020, to Jan. 8, 2021, totaling $31,446 for unemployment benefits from the Illinois Department of Employment Security and initiating a wire transfer of $50,000 on Jan. 11, 2021, to another account, the complaint states.

Regnier also faces two counts of filing a fraudulent Illinois sales and use tax return for not filing a 2020 and 2021 sales and use tax return to the Illinois Department of Revenue.

Kee Firearms and Training is a retail shop that sells guns and provides training. In October, the New Lenox Village Board unanimously approved a special use permit allowing Regnier to obtain a federal manufacturing license, which would allow him to put serial numbers on gun parts in gun kits for sale.

In January, the day after Gov. J.B. Pritzker signed a law banning military-style firearms, Regnier expressed frustration over halting the sale of the majority of his inventory because the state did not give gun shop businesses direction on how to move forward.

New Lenox Mayor Tim Baldermann said he heard about the charges Regnier faces. Village officials will monitor what happens to Regnier’s state and federal licenses to sell firearms, he said.

“If that privilege is revoked by the state or federal government, he won’t be able to operate his business,” Baldermann said. “As a village, we’ll see what happens and see if it affects the business in anyway.”