Cortney Merritts, husband of former Missouri Democratic Congresswoman Cori Bush, was indicted Thursday on federal charges alleging he fraudulently obtained more than $20,000 in COVID-19 relief funds. Merritts is accused of submitting false applications to the Small Business Administration (SBA) in 2020 and 2021 through two different pandemic assistance programs.
The indictment, announced on March 20 by U.S. Attorney Edward Martin Jr. for the District of Columbia, outlines two counts of wire fraud. Federal prosecutors allege Merritts deliberately submitted deceptive applications to both the Economic Injury Disaster Loan (EIDL) program and the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP), which were established to support businesses economically harmed by the pandemic.
