LACEY TOWNSHIP, NJ – The politically connected law firm of Dasti, Murphy and McGuckin, who rakes in millions of dollars annually in public, pay to play contract jobs received between $150,000 and $350,000 from the federal paycheck protection program. The program was geared to help mom and pop brick and mortar businesses get through the pandemic, but the firm landed a $500,000 public contract during the pandemic from Toms River and earlier this year landed millions of dollars worth of public contracts in towns such as Lacey, Manchester and Jackson.
The firm was denied getting a lucrative public contract in June from the Lacey Township School Board who voted against the firm receiving another contract.
They weren’t the only politically connected firm in Ocean County to get the government COVID-19 funding.
“Both Citta, Holzapfel & Zabarsky, the law firm of Sen. James Holzapfel (R-Ocean), and Dasti, Murphy, McGuckin, Ulaky, Koutsouris & Connors, whose partners include Assemblymember Gregory McGuckin (R-Ocean) and Sen. Chris Connors (R-Atlantic), received between $150,000 and $350,000,” Politico reported.
The loans came with a 1% interest rate and will likely be forgiven.
Being that McGuckin also serves as a New Jersey assemblyman, his firm should pay that loan back, being that their firm was able to land many lucrative contracts that were unaffected by the COVID-19 shutdown as lawyers from the firm worked and got paid regularly for their more than 30 public contracts.