Overview
- The Justice Department announced Tuesday that Strand Book Store agreed to pay $1,482,560 to resolve claims it received a prohibited second‑draw PPP loan after a February 2021 application.
- Prosecutors say owner Nancy Bass Wyden certified that no spouse of a member of Congress controlled the business and that certification was knowingly and materially false; the Strand says the error was unintentional and that its accountant and lender were unaware of the December 2020 rule change.
- The settlement resolves a qui tam False Claims Act case brought by Blockquote Inc., which will receive about $148,256 from the recovery and whose relator docket remains sealed.
- Congress added a December 2020 restriction that barred second‑draw PPP funds for businesses controlled by members of Congress or their spouses, a measure Senator Ron Wyden voted for two months before the Strand’s second application.
- The case highlights how PPP rules were enforced through civil False Claims Act suits and may prompt closer review of lender and accountant checks after many small businesses, including the Strand, suffered steep pandemic revenue losses and earlier received PPP aid.