The U.S. Justice Department on Tuesday brought its first criminal charges against people it accused of defrauding the $660 billion Paycheck Protection Program aimed at dulling the coronavirus pandemic’s heavy hit on the economy. David Staveley, 52, of Andover, Massachusetts said he needed more than $400,000 to help employees at three restaurants, when in fact two of the establishments were closed before the pandemic began and the third has a different owner, prosecutors alleged. Prosecutors said David Butziger, 51, of Warwick, Rhode Island lied about the number of employees at a small business to obtain a forgivable $105,000 loan.
