Fort Myers man who used PPP money to purchase $700K boat out on bond

A luxurious boat now in the hands of the feds. The man who bought it, now out on bond and facing fraud charges for using coronavirus bailout money to buy that boat.

The front door is locked at Target Roofing and Sheet Metal in Fort Myers.

Employees inside have made it clear they do not want to talk about the U.S. Attorney ordering the arrest of their boss, Casey Crowther.

Crowther, free on a $100,000 bond, will not be using his new boat while waiting for his next court appearance.

The fed seized the $700,000 Invincible catamaran they say Crowther bought using a loan that was obtained with a fraudulent application, specifically meant to keep his business open and his employees on the job.

Federal investigators say Crowther got $2 million in Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) money and 10 days later, wired the money to a Sarasota company to buy a boat.

Other business owners weren’t happy about the news.

“He could have maybe kept people employed to, you know, buy food, pay their bills, pay their rent. I can’t fathom that dishonesty,” said restaurant owner Laurie Thomas

“I think he didn’t care about his employees or anybody but himself, because we used our money to pay our employees, to pay the mortgage, get caught up on our bills,” said restaurant owner John Giaquinto.

Lots of people are confusing Casey Crowther’s Target Roofing company with Crowther Roofing. Lee Crowther sent us the following statement to make that clear:

Casey Crowther is the grandchild of our founder, Lee J. Crowther, but is not employed by, nor connected in any way with, Crowther Roofing & Sheet Metal.

Lots of confusion because of that shared last name.

Casey Crowther is free on bond but that doesn’t mean he can go anywhere he wants. He must get permission from a federal judge to leave our area.