The Strand, the storied Greenwich Village bookstore, has agreed to pay $1,482,560 to settle claims that it improperly received a second-draw Paycheck Protection Program loan during the pandemic — a loan tied to a federal restriction on businesses controlled by members of Congress or their spouses. The store's owner, Nancy Bass Wyden, is married to longtime Oregon Democratic Senator Ron Wyden.
The Strand applied for the $932,350 loan in February 2021, according to CNBC. On the application, Bass Wyden certified that the spouse of a member of Congress did not directly or indirectly hold a controlling interest in the applicant — a certification required under a prohibition Congress wrote into law in December 2020 barring businesses controlled by lawmakers or their spouses from receiving second-draw PPP funds. The U.S. Attorney's Office said that certification was knowingly and materially false, and that the Strand was not eligible for the loan it received.
Prosecutors Allege a False Claims Act Violation
The U.S. Attorney's Office alleged that the bookstore violated the False Claims Act by improperly applying for and receiving the second-draw loan. CNBC reported that the settlement included no determination of liability.
U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro, whom President Trump appointed as the top federal prosecutor in Washington, D.C., said the Paycheck Protection Program was created to save American jobs, not enrich ineligible recipients. The False Claims Act under which the case was brought allows the government to establish liability based on reckless disregard for the truth and to recover more than the government's actual losses, the same report notes.
A Whistleblower Case Kept Under Seal
The case was resolved through a qui tam lawsuit, a legal mechanism that allows private whistleblowers to sue on behalf of the federal government and collect a share of any recovery. That suit was filed by a corporate entity called Blockquote Inc. in U.S. District Court in Washington; per the same account, Blockquote's owners are undisclosed and the lawsuit's docket remains sealed from public view. Blockquote stands to receive roughly $148,256 of the settlement.
Nancy Bass Wyden is the granddaughter of Ben Bass, who founded the Strand, and the bookstore's flagship store remains a Greenwich Village fixture. Her husband has served in the U.S. Senate for more than 30 years. Sen. Wyden's office did not immediately respond to requests for comment, the outlet reported.
The Strand's Defense: An Honest Mistake Amid Chaos
The Strand has pushed back on the characterization that it knowingly broke the law. The bookstore said the mistake was unintentional and that it did not know the second-draw funds were barred when it applied. According to the bookstore's account, Congress passed the controlling-interest restriction in the gap between the first and second rounds of PPP funding, and its accountant and the bank administering the loan were not aware of the change when the application was processed. The Strand also said the error arose during what it described as an unprecedented and rapidly changing public health emergency.
Congress originally authorized forgivable PPP loans through the CARES Act in March 2020, with the Small Business Administration administering the program, before lawmakers approved additional funding and new restrictions in December 2020.
Part of a Broader Pattern of PPP Settlements
The Strand's settlement follows a string of similar False Claims Act resolutions involving organizations accused of improperly receiving PPP loans. In August 2026, a club identified as Secession agreed to pay $1,047,991 to resolve allegations that it was ineligible for a PPP loan it received, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office. A Maryland club, Woodholme, reached a separate $1,042,500 settlement in April 2026 over similar allegations, per the Justice Department.
