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The husband of former Rep. Cori Bush (D-Mo.) allegedly bilked taxpayers out of more than $20,000 in a COVID loan scheme and used the money for his “personal benefit and enjoyment,” according to the DC US Attorney’s Office.
Cortney Merritts, 46, was charged in a federal indictment Thursday with two counts of wire fraud related to allegedly fraudulent applications he filed with the Small Business Administration in 2020 and 2021 that allowed him to collect – and never repay – government funds from the pandemic-era Economic Injury Disaster Loan Program (EIDL) and Paycheck Protection Program (PPP).
Merritts received an $8,500 EIDL loan from the SBA for his moving business in July 2020 after certifying that his company, Vetted Couriers, had six employees and generated $32,000 in gross revenue the previous year, according to the indictment.
The day after receiving the EIDL loan, Merritts filed another application with SBA through the same program for a different business, which he identified only as “Courtney Merritts” and claimed it employed ten people and generated $53,000 in revenue.
The ex-congresswoman’s husband also requested an EIDL advance of up to $10,000 based on the number of employees “Courtney Merritts” employed.
SBA rejected Merritts’ applications after determining that the documents were “nearly identical” to the prior one he submitted.
The DC US Attorney’s Office, headed by Ed Martin, claims Merrits lied about the number of employees he had and his revenues in the rejected applications.
Nearly a year later, in April of 2021, Merritts once again sought taxpayer money in the form of a PPP loan for “Cortney Merritts.”
This time he claimed the business was created in 2020 and generated $128,000 in gross income that year.
But those claims were also fraudulent, according to the indictment.
However, the St. Louis man’s application was not rejected and he received a $20,832 PPP loan.
“Merritts used the proceeds for his personal benefit and enjoyment,” according to federal prosecutors.
The indictment didn’t include details of what exactly he blew through the cash on.
“Based on Merritts’ alleged fraudulent representations, the SBA forgave the PPP loan in the amount of $20,832 and the $254.03 in interest,” the DC US Attorney’s Office added.
An attorney for Merritts told the Washington Post that his client intends to plead not guilty.
“We look forward to litigating this case in the courtroom,” Justin Gelfand told the outlet.
Bush, the former far-left “Squad” congresswoman who lost her Missouri 1st District seat in the 2024 election, is not accused of any wrongdoing in the indictment.
In 2023, Bush was slapped with a Federal Election Commission and congressional ethics complaint over money her campaign paid Merritts to provide security — even though he didn’t have the required license.
The “Defund the police” movement advocate allegedly “used campaign funds for personal use” when she shelled out $60,000 in 2022 for the services of Merritts, whom Bush later married in February 2023, according to the nonpartisan Foundation for Accountability and Civic Trust (FACT).
At the same time the Bush campaign was paying Merritts for security, it was spending more than $225,000 on a St. Louis-based firm called PEACE Security and $50,000 on another security guard named Nathaniel Davis, Federal Election Commission records show.
The Justice Department was reportedly investigating Bush last year over her use of money intended for members of Congress and candidates to spend on private security.
The status of the investigation is unknown and the ex-congresswoman has not been charged.
