Remington House Property Owner Pleads to PPP Fraud

WARWICK, RI — David Butziger, 52, listed as owner of the Remington House property in Apponaug, has made good on his agreement to plead guilty to conspiracy to commit bank fraud in a PPP fraud case in U.S. District Court.

U.S. Attorney Aaron L. Weisman alleged Butziger and his accomplice, David Adler Staveley, 53, of Andover, MA, filed false bank loan applications seeking more than a half-million dollars in forgivable loans under the CARES Act.

Butziger admitted that he conspired with David Adler Staveley, a/k/a Kurt David Sanborn, a/k/a David Sanborn, 53, of Andover, MA, to seek forgivable loans guaranteed by the SBA, claiming to have dozens of employees earning wages at four different business, three restaurants and an electronics business, when, in fact, there were no employees working for any of the businesses.

Butziger admitted he submitted a loan application to BankNewport under the federal Paycheck Protection Program (PPP), part of the CARES Act passed by Congress on March 29,2000, on behalf of an unincorporated entity that he called Dock Wireless. The loan application was in the amount of $105,381.50 and fraudulently represented that Dock Wireless had 7 employees and an average monthly payroll of $42,152.60. According to the government, in truth and in fact, Dock Wireless had no employees and no wages were ever paid by Dock Wireless.

 Butziger als0 admitted to conspiring with Staveley who himself allegedly submitted three fraudulent bank loan applications for SBA loans under the PPP totaling $438,577. It is alleged that Staveley claimed the loans were to be used to pay employees at three restaurants he claimed to own and to be operating, including Top of the Bay and Remington House in Warwick and On The Trax in Berlin, MA.

In his guilty plea, Butziger said he submitted a loan application to BankNewport under the federal Paycheck Protection Program (PPP), part of the CARES Act passed by Congress on March 29,2000, on behalf of an unincorporated entity that he called Dock Wireless. The loan application was in the amount of $105,381.50 and fraudulently represented that Dock Wireless had 7 employees and an average monthly payroll of $42,152.60. According to the government, in truth and in fact, Dock Wireless had no employees and no wages were ever paid by Dock Wireless.

 Butziger attested that he conspired with Staveley who himself allegedly submitted three fraudulent bank loan applications for SBA loans under the PPP totaling $438,577. It is alleged that Staveley claimed the loans were to be used to pay employees at three restaurants he claimed to own and to be operating, including Top of the Bay and Remington House in Warwick and On The Trax in Berlin, MA.

According to Weisman’s office, an investigation determined that Remington House and On The Trax were not open for business prior to the start of the COVID-19 pandemic and at the time the loan applications were submitted, and that Staveley did not own or have any role in Top of the Bay restaurant.

Appearing today before U.S. District Court Judge Mary S. McElroy, Butziger pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit bank fraud, announced United States Attorney Aaron L. Weisman, Special Agent in Charge Joseph R. Bonavolonta of the FBI’s Boston Field Office, and Acting Special Agent in Charge of Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigation Joleen Simpson.

Butziger is scheduled to be sentenced on Dec. 18.