According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia, the husband of former Missouri Democrat Rep. Cori Bush was charged with wire fraud for allegedly submitting fraudulent applications to illegally receive more than $20,000 of federal COVID Relief Funds.

Cortney Merritts of St. Louis Missouri was indicted in a federal court on Thursday for allegedly filing falsified documents to the Small Business Administration (SBA) in 2020 and in 2021, under the Economic Injury Disaster Loan Program and Paycheck Protection Program.

According to the indictment Merritts was granted an $8,500 EIDL from the SBA for a moving company called Vetted Couriers in July 2020 after certifying he had six staff and had made $32,000 gross revenue in the previous year.

Merritts then submitted a second application for an EIDL for the business “Cortney Merritts”, which he said employed 10 employees and had gross revenues of $53,000.

The husband of the former congresswoman also requested an EIDL Advance of up to 10,000 based on how many employees “Cortney Merritts”, as he was known, had.

The D.C. U.S. Attorney’s Office reported that after determining his second EIDL request was “nearly the same” as the first one, the SBA denied his application to receive additional funds through the program.

Merritts sought COVID funds again in April 2021 by applying for a PPP Loan for “Cortney Merritts”, claiming that the business was established in 2020 and that it had generated a gross income of $128,000 that year. His representations regarding his gross income resulted in a PPP loan of $20,832.

Federal prosecutors stated that “Merritts spent the proceeds to his benefit and pleasure,” without mentioning how he used the money.

The D.C. Attorney’s Office stated that “in July 2022 Merritts filed a loan forgiveness request in which he falsely asserted that the business had 10 workers at the time the PPP loan was granted and that the $20,832 he claimed to have spent on payroll costs.” The SBA forgave the PPP loan of $20,832 as well as the $254.03 in interest based on Merritts’ alleged fraudulent representations.

Merritts attorney told The Washington Post his client intends to plead not guilt.

Justin Gelfand stated, “We are looking forward to litigating the case in a courtroom.”

Bush, who was elected to represent St. Louis in the 2024 primary elections, married Merritts reportedly in February 2023.

Merritts was indicted about a year ago after the Justice Department began an investigation into Bush’s improper campaign payments made to her husband.

The Washington Free Beacon reported Bush spent more than $820,000 in campaign funds to hire private security services, and Merritts received more than $150,000.

After the Department of Justice began its investigation, Bush continued to use her campaign funds to continue paying her husband $5,000 a month in security services.