WASHINGTON — This is an official press release from the U.S. Department of Justice (Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI)), published as received.

           WASHINGTON – 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., Special Agent in Charge Amaleka McCall-Brathwaite for the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) Office of the Inspector General-Eastern Region, and FBI Special Agent in Charge Sean Ryan of the Washington Field Office Criminal and Cyber Division.

           According to the indictment, on July 7, 2020, Merritts received an $8,500 EIDL loan from the SBA for a moving business he operated that he called Vetted Couriers. In the application he submitted for Vetted Couriers, Merritts certified that his business had six employees and had generated $32,000 in gross revenue between January 30, 2019 and January 30, 2020.

           On July 8, 2020, Merritts submitted another application to the SBA for an EIDL loan in the name of a sole proprietorship he called “Cortney Merritts.”  In this EIDL application, Merritts fraudulently claimed to have a business that employed 10 people and generated $53,000 in gross revenue between January 30, 2019 and January 30, 2020.  In addition to an EIDL loan, Merritts also requested an EIDL advance of up to $10,000 based on his false claim that he had 10 employees. The SBA rejected Merritts’ attempt to obtain additional EIDL funds after determining that his July 2020 application was nearly identical to the prior one he submitted.

           The indictment further alleges that on April 22, 2021, Merritts applied for a PPP loan in the name of a sole proprietorship he called “Cortney Merritts.”  Merritts fraudulently claimed in this application that he had created this business in 2020 and that it had generated $128,000 in gross income that year. Based on Merritts’ representations about his gross income, Merritts received a $20,832 PPP loan. Merritts used the proceeds for his personal benefit and enjoyment.  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.

           This case is being investigated by the U.S. Small Business Administration Office of the Inspector General and the FBI Washington Field Office.  It is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Joshua Rothstein and Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Rami Sibay.

           An indictment is merely an allegation. All defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.