A North Berwick man has been sentenced in U.S. District Court in Portland for submitting fraudulent applications for loans under the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP). Frederick Avery, aged 50, received a sentence of five months in prison followed by five years of supervised release, which includes five months of home detention. He was also ordered to pay restitution amounting to $227,667 after pleading guilty on July 15, 2024.

Court records indicate 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 limited liability company based in Pennsylvania in November 2019. The loan applications stated that the funds, totaling more than $215,000, were intended for payroll and other expenses such as lease or mortgage interest and utilities. To support one application, Avery provided falsified bank statements from an account that did not exist.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) conducted the investigation into this case.

The Paycheck Protection Program was a relief initiative administered by the Small Business Administration during the COVID-19 pandemic. It aimed to provide forgivable loans to small businesses for job retention and certain expenses. Participating third-party lenders were allowed to approve and disburse SBA-backed PPP loans covering payroll and other fixed costs incurred due to the pandemic.