Strand Bookstore ordered to pay $1.5 million over Covid loan
The loan at issue was a $932,350 Paycheck Protection Program loan the store accepted while allegedly ineligible to receive it.
The office of US attorney Jeanine Pirro ordered The Strand bookstore to pay a $1.5 million settlement over a 2021 Covid relief loan the store accepted but for which it was actually ineligible, Publishers Marketplace reported.
Owner Nancy Bass Wyden is the wife of Oregon senator Ron Wyden, and the terms of the loan stipulated that "the spouse of a Member of Congress does not directly or indirectly hold a controlling interest in the applicant," according to the outlet. The loan was $932,350, issued through the Paycheck Protection Program.
Here's the thing about PPP loans nobody tells you at the time: the eligibility rules were fine print, and fine print has a way of becoming a headline years later. The Strand took $932,350 and now owes $1.5 million — nearly double — which tells you the penalty math on these cases is not gentle. If you or your bookstore client took pandemic relief funds under ownership structures involving family connections to public office, this is your cue to get that paperwork reviewed now, not when a US attorney's office calls.
From the Coral Wire edition of Fri, Nov 6 2026 · Coral Index 28/100 (Storm warning)