{"attachment": "", "body": "<p><b>PORTLAND, Maine:</b>&nbsp;A Norway man pleaded guilty today in U.S. District Court in Portland to filing fraudulent applications for loans from the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP).</p>\n\n<p>According to court records, between May 2020 and January 2021, <b>Merton Weed Jr.,</b> 51, filed eight fraudulent PPP loan applications with different lenders and received over $240,000 in PPP funds. The applications listed false average monthly payrolls and numbers of employees and were supported by false payroll records and bank records.</p>\n\n<p>Weed faces up to 20 years in prison, three years of supervised release and a $250,000 fine. He will be sentenced after the completion of a presentence investigative report by the U.S. Probation Office. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.</p>\n\n<p>The FBI investigated the case.</p>\n\n<p><b>Paycheck Protection Program (PPP):</b> The PPP was a COVID-19 pandemic relief program administered by the Small Business Administration (SBA) that provided forgivable loans to small businesses for job retention and certain other expenses. The PPP permitted participating third-party lenders to approve and disburse SBA-backed PPP loans to cover payroll, fixed debts, utilities, rent/mortgage, accounts payable and other bills incurred by qualifying businesses during, and resulting from, the COVID-19 pandemic. PPP loans were fully guaranteed by the SBA.</p>\n\n<p class=\"text-align-center\"><b>###</b></p>", "changed": "<time datetime=\"2023-10-23T13:13:21-04:00\">1698081201</time>\n", "component": [{"name": "Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI)", "uuid": "dca09ceb-4978-4466-9c30-ce9f5ada2f0a"}, {"name": "USAO - Maine", "uuid": "7eb5d47c-fc6f-4914-9897-1dcc1e477646"}], "created": "<time datetime=\"2023-10-23T13:11:13-04:00\">1698081073</time>\n", "date": "1698062400", "image": "", "number": "", "teaser": "<p>Merton Weed Jr., 51, filed eight fraudulent PPP loan applications with different lenders and received over $240,000 in PPP funds. He faces up to 20 years in prison, three years of supervised release and a $250,000 fine.</p>", "title": "Norway Man Pleads Guilty to Fraudulently Obtaining $240K in PPP Loans During Pandemic ", "topic": [{"name": "COVID-Related Fraud", "uuid": "6827a162-b783-4ffa-a6c2-596fc9f07e39"}, {"name": "Disaster Fraud", "uuid": "b7ce2474-26e0-427a-94c4-95dee8df26cb"}, {"name": "Financial Fraud", "uuid": "77a2d846-a826-49db-a31a-c5db747e9ad3"}], "url": "https://www.justice.gov/usao-me/pr/norway-man-pleads-guilty-fraudulently-obtaining-240k-ppp-loans-during-pandemic", "uuid": "cc629289-9214-4b81-b92d-89fc3c4242e6"}