A Maryland business owner is suing to force the Small Business Administration to open the Paycheck Protection Program to borrowers with a criminal past, claiming the agency can’t pick and choose “who is and is not morally worthy” of aid from the coronavirus relief loan program.

In a complaint filed in Baltimore federal court, Altimont Mark Wilks challenged the legality of the SBA’s decision to make the PPP off-limits to businesses whose owners have criminal histories, a restriction he claimed conflicts with the law that authorized the program and is preventing him from securing aid for his two businesses.

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