Ask a local business owner who got a slice of COVID-19 relief money the right way and you'll often hear how beneficial it's been.But you also can find people accused of taking a much bigger bite of the pie, a pie made with public tax dollars, than they were supposed to."People get this money and instead of paying payroll with it or keeping their business running, they go out and buy luxury cars or luxury assets," said Special Agent in Charge Bryant Jackson with the IRS' Cincinnati Field Office.WLWT investigator Todd Dykes has discovered the feds are prosecuting 17 cases locally, involving people accused of fraudulently taking money set aside to keep businesses afloat.The Department of Justice has highlighted three defendants who call the Cincinnati area home. Toni Wright allegedly swindled the Paycheck Protection Program out of almost $350,000. According to a criminal complaint filed in federal court, Wright used some of that cash for purchases at Louis Vuitton and Victoria's Secret.An agent said Wright also spent thousands at what was then called Jack Casino in downtown Cincinnati - and even bought a 2020 Tesla Model 3 using pandemic relief money.Wright is set to be sentenced October. The FBI said Kelli Prather, a former mayoral candidate in the Queen City, tried to get "more than $600,000 in fraud relief and fraudulently received approximately $19,800." Court documents indicate a plea deal is in the works but has not been finalized. A third defendant, Melissa McGhee, was arrested by police in Sycamore Township. She's accused of getting $186,000 worth of fraudulent relief funds. An FBI agent said she used some money to buy real estate. A jury is scheduled to hear McGhee's case this summer."Whenever, you know, there's a program that people can access, to get something, you know, usually you have that element of people that take advantage of it," Jackson said.Jackson and his colleagues use COVID-19 relief paper trails as evidence."That's the best thing about what we do. We do crimes from a historical perspective," he said.Jackson wants to put on notice anyone who's scammed the government out of pandemic relief money."Once we get involved we're coming to put you in jail. We aren't coming to, you know, say don't do that again," Jackson said.Since the COVID-19 pandemic began, the IRS' criminal division has investigated at least 660 Covid-related tax and money laundering cases nationwide involving almost $2 billion. The average prison sentence for people convicted is 3-and-a-half years.Criminal investigators with the IRS encourage anyone who suspects financial fraud tied to COVID-19 to sound the alarm. One way to do this is by contacting the National Center for Disaster Fraud.