Strand Bookstore to repay $1.5M for improper pandemic loan

Summarised from 2 outlets · Updated 5 Nov, 19:10 · Archive

New York's Strand Bookstore will repay nearly $1.5 million after improperly receiving a pandemic-era small business loan, the U.S. Department of Justice announced this week. The bookstore was ineligible because its owner, Nancy Bass Wyden, is the wife of U.S. Senator Ron Wyden, a Democrat from Oregon. In 2021, the Strand applied for a second draw loan of $932,350 from the Paycheck Protection Program, which required applicants to certify that a member of Congress did not have a direct or indirect controlling interest in the business. The bookstore had previously received a PPP loan in 2020, but that earlier round did not include the same certification requirement.

U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro said in a statement that 'The Paycheck Protection Program was created to save American jobs, not to enrich those who aren't eligible for taxpayer-funded relief, especially the wife of a U.S. Senator.' Bass Wyden responded that during the COVID-19 pandemic, government relief programme regulations 'were changing rapidly' and the bookstore was not aware of the eligibility changes between the first and second applications. She said the mistake was unintentional and the funds were returned as soon as the issue came to attention.

A spokesperson for Senator Wyden's office said the senator and his wife do not discuss her business and he had no involvement in the loan or settlement.

How it is being reported

• New York's Strand Bookstore to repay nearly $1.5M after improperly receiving federal loanThe U.S. Department of Justice has announced that New York's Strand Bookstore will pay nearly $1.5 million after improperly receiving a pandemic-era small business loan.Clickorlando · 5 Nov, 18:17
• New York's Strand Bookstore to repay nearly $1.5M after improperly receiving federal loanThe U.S. Department of Justice has announced that New York's Strand Bookstore will pay nearly $1.5 million after improperly receiving a pandemic-era small business loan.News4Jax · 5 Nov, 18:17

In this story: Strand Bookstore · Nancy Bass Wyden · Ron Wyden · New York · Oregon · U.S. Department of Justice

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