A North Berwick man pleaded guilty this week in Portland federal court to filing fraudulent applications for loans from the Paycheck Protection Program, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Maine.
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.
The FBI investigated the case.