Florida business owner guilty of $2M in coronavirus relief fraud

fraud (Large)
The Florida man bought a catamaran with Coronavirus relief funds.

A Florida business owner has been convicted of illegally receiving more than $2 million in coronavirus relief funds.

A federal jury in Fort Myers found Casey David Crowther, 35, guilty Friday of bank fraud, making a false statement to a lending institution and two counts of money laundering, according to court records. A sentencing date hasn’t been set.

Crowther applied for a loan last April on behalf of his company, Target Roofing & Sheet Metal, Inc., according to a criminal complaint. Prosecutors said he claimed the funds would only be used for business-related purposes, such as retaining workers and paying bills.

But shortly after receiving the money $2.1 million, Crowther made a series of personal purchases, including nearly $690,000 on a 2020 40-foot (12-meter) catamaran, which he registered in his name, the complaint said. He also paid $100,000 to a former business partner.

Crowther concealed the scheme by providing false explanations for the expenditures to his bank, prosecutors said. He added multiple family members to his company’s payroll who did not actually perform work and created 39 fake employees, officials said.

The Paycheck Protection Program represents billions of dollars in forgivable small business loans for Americans struggling because of the COVID-19 pandemic. It’s part of the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security Act, which became federal law in March.

____

Republished with permission from the Associated Press.

Associated Press


One comment

  • GR

    March 28, 2021 at 8:44 am

    Don’t understand how he could fake employees did the bank not check his payroll tax records before lending him the money?

Comments are closed.


#FlaPol

Florida Politics is a statewide, new media platform covering campaigns, elections, government, policy, and lobbying in Florida. This platform and all of its content are owned by Extensive Enterprises Media.

Publisher: Peter Schorsch @PeterSchorschFL

Contributors & reporters: Phil Ammann, Drew Dixon, Roseanne Dunkelberger, A.G. Gancarski, Anne Geggis, Ryan Nicol, Jacob Ogles, Cole Pepper, Gray Rohrer, Jesse Scheckner, Christine Sexton, Drew Wilson, and Mike Wright.

Email: [email protected]
Twitter: @PeterSchorschFL
Phone: (727) 642-3162
Address: 204 37th Avenue North #182
St. Petersburg, Florida 33704




Sign up for Sunburn


Categories