North Berwick Man Pleads Guilty to Bank Fraud for Applying for PPP Loans for Travel Agency He No Longer Owned

PORTLAND, Maine: A North Berwick man pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court in Portland today to filing fraudulent applications for loans from the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP).

According to court records, between April 2020 and September 2021, Frederick Avery, 49, submitted two applications for PPP loans that claimed he was the 100% owner of Superior Cruise and Travel LLC. Avery sold the agency to a limited liability company in Pennsylvania in November 2019. He claimed on the applications that the loans, which totaled more than $215,000, were for payroll, lease/mortgage interest, utilities, and other items. Avery submitted falsified bank statements from a non-existent account to support one of the applications.

Avery faces up to 30 years imprisonment and a maximum fine of $1 million, followed by up to five years of supervised release. A federal district judge will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

The FBI investigated the case.

Paycheck Protection Program (PPP): 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.

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