A North Berwick resident, Frederick Avery, was sentenced in the U.S. District Court in Portland for submitting fraudulent applications for Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loans. The sentencing, delivered by U.S. District Judge Nancy Torresen, includes five months of imprisonment followed by five years of supervised release with five months of home detention. Avery is also required to pay $227,667 in restitution after pleading guilty on July 15, 2024.
Court records reveal that between April 2020 and September 2021, Avery submitted two PPP loan applications falsely claiming he was the sole owner of Superior Cruise and Travel LLC. However, Avery had sold the travel agency to a Pennsylvania-based limited liability company in November 2019. The applications stated that the loans, amounting to over $215,000, were intended for payroll and other expenses such as lease/mortgage interest and utilities. To support one application, Avery provided falsified bank statements from a non-existent account.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) conducted the investigation into this case.
The Paycheck Protection Program was established as a COVID-19 pandemic relief initiative managed by the Small Business Administration (SBA). It offered forgivable loans to small businesses for job retention and certain expenses during the pandemic. Participating lenders were authorized to approve and disburse SBA-backed PPP loans covering payroll and other essential costs incurred due to the pandemic.