WASHINGTON D.C. – A federal grand jury has indicted Cortney Merritts, the husband of former Congresswoman Cori Bush, on two counts of wire fraud for his alleged involvement in a scheme to acquire federal funds through deception and fraud.
In a nine-page indictment, the United States District Court for the District of Columbia lays out Merritts’ loan application discrepancies while maintaining Bush’s husband used the federal funds for “his personal benefit and enjoyment.”
The indictment, signed by former St. Louis resident and current U.S. Attorney Ed Martin, alleges the scheme began in July 2020 and continued through the pandemic, the event by which the funds became available.
The grand jury indictment says Merritts “knowingly devised, intended to devise and participated in a scheme and artifice to obtain money and property in connections with applications for EIDL and PPP funds by means of materially false and fraudulent pretenses, representations and promises,” the court document reads.
EIDL stands for the Economic Injury Disaster Loans program, which was administered by the federal Small Business Administration. The PPP loans stand for Paycheck Protection Program.
Federal prosecutors allege that Merritts submitted false and fraudulent applications, was awarded $20,832 in PPP funds alone and then later applied to have those loans forgiven. The government acknowledges forgiving Merritts’ PPP loan amount as well as any interest tied to it.
The loans were forgiven in 2022. The defendant’s wife served in the U.S. Congress from 2019 until earlier this year. The indictment does not list or imply Bush’s involvement.
If convicted, Merritts could face up to 20 years in prison as well as having to pay back all of the money in addition to fines that can be upwards of $1 million.
Incumbent Rep. Bush lost her reelection bid last year to then-St. Louis County prosecutor Wesley Bell in the Democratic primary.
Bell went on to win in the general election and now represents Missouri’s first congressional district.
