Former Democratic Missouri Rep. Cori Bush’s husband was charged on Thursday with two counts of wire fraud for allegedly defrauding the federal government by submitting fraudulent pandemic loan applications.
In a Thursday press release, the United States Attorney’s Office for the District of Colombia announced that 46-year-old Cortney Merritts had been charged “by federal indictment with two counts of wire fraud for allegedly filing fraudulent applications with the Small Business Administration in 2020 and 2021 that allowed him to collect more than $20,000 in government funds under the Economic Injury Disaster Loan Program (EIDL) and Paycheck Protection Program (PPP).”
The United States Attorney’s Office for the District of Colombia noted that the indictment claims the former Democrat lawmaker’s husband received an $8,500 EIDL loan from the Small Business Administration for a business named “Vetted Couriers.” In the loan application, Merritts certified that his business had six employees and made $32,000 in gross revenue from January of 2019 to January of 2020.
The indictment claims that Merritts submitted a second application for an EIDL loan for a sole proprietorship business called “Cortney Merritts.” In the second application, Merritts falsely claimed his business had ten employees and had made $53,000 in gross revenue from January of 2019 to January of 2020. Merritts also applied for an advance of up to $10,000 based on his claims.
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The United States Attorney’s Office for the District of Colombia explained that the Small Business Administration rejected Bush’s husband’s second application after “determining that his July 2020 application was nearly identical to the prior one he submitted.”
According to the indictment, Merritts also applied for a PPP loan on April 222, 2021, on behalf of a business called “Cortney Merritts.” Merritts was given a $20,832 PPP loan after fraudulently claiming that his business was created in 2020 and had generated $128,000 in gross income.
“Merritts used the proceeds for his personal benefit and enjoyment,” the United States Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia stated. “In July 2022, Merritts submitted a loan forgiveness application in which he falsely claimed that this business had 10 employees at the time of the PPP loan, and that he spent the $20,832 on payroll costs. Based on Merritts’ alleged fraudulent representations, the SBA forgave the PPP loan in the amount of $20,832 and the $254.03 in interest.”
According to Thursday’s press release, the wire fraud case against Bush’s husband is currently being investigated by the Small Business Administration Office of the Inspector General and the Federal Bureau of Investigation Washington Field Office.