NORWAY — Merton Weed Jr., of Norway and Belfast, was arrested Tuesday, Feb. 21, in Norway, on an indictment charging him with fraudulent claims for Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loans and a fraudulent application for a Federal Housing Administration (FHA) insured mortgage.
According to a Department of Justice release and the indictment, the indictment states that between May 2020 and continuing until at least Feb. 4, 2021, Weed filed five applications for PPP loans requesting more than $150,000. The applications are alleged to have listed false average monthly payrolls and numbers of employees and to have been supported by false payroll and bank records.
The indictment also alleges that Weed filed a residential loan application for an FHA-insured mortgage in 2018 listing false employment and income on the application.
Counts 1-4 – wire fraud – of the indictment include PPP applications as follows:
1. May 2020, under M.E. Property Management LLC, $19,700 from Lender A.
2. June 2020, under Merton Eric Weed Jr. LLC, $56,849 from Lender B.
3. June 2020, under Merton Weed Jr LLC, $51,772 from Lender B.
4. July 2020, Merton Eric Weed II dba Merton Weed and Family, $3,104.38 from Lender C.
5. Jan. 2021, M.E. Property Management LLC, $19,700 from Lender A.
The funds for these applications were received via wire.
Count 5 is Housing and Urban Development Fraud which in Nov. 2018 “the defendant misrepresented on …residential loan application…that he was employed by TA Operating LLC as a general manager…for seven years…receiving gross monthly employment income of $20,308.76.”
The Norway Police Department assisted the FBI in the arrest.
Weed posted $20,000 unsecured bond with conditions.
If convicted, according to the release, Weed faces up to 20 years in prison, three years of supervised release and a $250,000 fine. Further, according to the indictment, any property derived either directly or indirectly from these offenses shall be forfeited.
The PPP was a COVID pandemic relief program administered by the Small Business Administration that provided forgivable loans to small business for job retention and other expenses.
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