BREAKING: Former Rep Cori Bush’s husband indicted for pandemic loan fraud

Federal prosecutors have charged Cortney Merritts, 46, of St. Louis, Missouri, with two counts of wire fraud. According to United States Attorney Edward Martin Jr., Merritts fraudulently obtained over $20,000 in forgiven loans through the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) and other Small Business Administration (SBA) loan programs in 2020 and 2021, per a release from the DOJ.

The Department of Justice states that in 2020, Merritts received an $8,500 COVID-19 Economic Injury Disaster Loan (EIDL) from the SBA for his business, Vetted Couriers—a moving company.

On his loan application, he claimed the company had six employees and reported “$32,000 in gross revenue between January 30, 2019, and January 30, 2020.”

The release from the DOJ reads: "Cortney Merritts, 46, of St. Louis, Missouri, was charged today 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 indictment was announced by U.S. Attorney Edward Martin Jr., along with SBA Office of the Inspector General Special Agent in Charge Amaleka McCall Brathwaite and FBI Washington Field Office Special Agent in Charge Sean Ryan.

According to court documents, Merritts applied for an $8,500 EIDL loan on July 7, 2020, for a moving company he called Vetted Couriers. He claimed the business had six employees and earned $32,000 in gross revenue between January 30, 2019, and January 30, 2020.

The next day, he allegedly submitted another EIDL application under the name “Courtney Merritts,” claiming he ran a separate business with ten employees and $53,000 in revenue during the same period. He also requested an advance of up to $10,000, but the SBA flagged the nearly identical applications and denied the second loan request.

In April 2021, Merritts applied for a $20,832 PPP loan under “Cortney Merritts,” stating he founded the business in 2020 and earned $128,000 that year. Prosecutors say he used the funds for personal expenses and later applied for loan forgiveness, falsely claiming he had ten employees and spent the entire loan on payroll costs. The SBA approved the request, forgiving the loan and accrued interest.

The case is being investigated by the SBA Office of the Inspector General and the FBI Washington Field Office. Prosecutors Joshua Rothstein and Rami Sibay are handling the case.