ATLANTA, GA. — The United States Court of Appeals upheld the convictions and prison sentence of a Fort Myers man in one of the first federal appeals involving COVID-19 relief fraud.
In March 2021, a jury found Casey Crowther, 37, guilty of bank fraud, making a false statement to a lending institution and two counts of money laundering in connection with his Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loan scheme.
A judge sentenced Crowther to over three years in prison and three years of supervised release. He appealed convictions on the PPP charges and his sentence.
PREVIOUS COVERAGE: Casey Crowther sentenced to 3 years for COVID-19 relief fraud
Crowther argued that he was allowed to use the PPP money for anything as long as he repaid the loan.
In April 2020, Crowther obtained a $2.1 million PPP loan, stating that he intended to use the money for payroll, rent and utilities for his company, Target Roofing and Sheet Metal, Inc.
Evidence at trial revealed that Crowther had his bank deposit the PPP funds into a secret account separate from his company’s main operating account. He then used the account for personal use, spending nearly $700,000 on a 40-foot boat and $55,000 on a horse. He also used some of the funds to pay down his credit card debt, a loan owed to an old business partner and his company’s line of credit.
When Crowther’s bank warned him that he would likely be audited, he tried to hide his fraud by falsely “hiring” family members and dozens of fake employees to inflate his company’s apparent payroll.
Crowther hid the true purpose of the boat and horse purchases, all while taxpayers continued to fund the low-interest loan that had been intended to protect his business and employees.
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