Crowther trial update: Prosecutors rest their case, closing statements to start on Friday

Casey Crowther’s federal trial is set to begin closing statements on its fifth day on Friday.

On Thursday, both sides rested their cases after a day filled with testimony from a Social Security Administration employee and a woman previously employed by the IRS who tracked every loan dollar spent by Crowther.

Crowther chose not to testify.

Crowther is accused of fabricating 39 employees in order to qualify for COVID-19 relief in the form of the Payment Protection Program (PPP). Federal authorities say he used the funds received to purchase a catamaran among other things.

The Social Security Administration employee testified on Thursday morning and said he checked the validity of the Social Security numbers for all of the 39 employees hired and then fired by Target Roofing.

Not one matched a real living person, he said. The social security cards also did not have the small insignia that prove they are real, he testified.

Twenty of the numbers were unassigned, meaning no one alive had it, he said. Another 19 numbers were mismatched, meaning they were real numbers for someone else that did not match the name, date of birth, or gender of the person whose name was written on the card, the man said.

The woman, with the IRS, testified about the many times money was taken out of the PPP loan account, including a $125,000 “loan for Casey” that went to a company credit card.

The credit card was then used for personal transactions at restaurants, payments at a Marina and payments for equestrian activities, the prosecution presented.

Another $300,000 was transferred to Crowther and his wife’s personal account.

The remaining amount, about $1 million, went to Target Roofing’s operating account, some of it was paid toward a line of credit and rent.

Prosecutors also said that only one check from the 39 employees was deposited and it went into Crowther’s account.

The trial started on Monday with jury selection.

Since then, jurors have heard from a Sanibel Captiva Community Bank employee who testified about Crowther’s misrepresentation on bank forms and Target Roofing’s HR Director, who said she never saw the 39 employees.

The defense argued the HR Director wouldn’t have seen the employees because of strict COVID protocols. They said Target Roofing often hired Hispanic immigrants and were not experts nor did they want to discriminate when reading their documents.

Crowther’s defense team has argued the money was just a loan because the business owner never asked for loan forgiveness. His defense team said the use of proceeds is limited by the CARES Act when filing for forgiveness, not when spending the loan money.

On Monday, shortly before jury selection began, Crowther pleaded guilty to charges of bank fraud and giving false statements to a lending institution, two of the initial seven counts.

Crowther admitted the crime in court.

Crowther was indicted on Sept. 23 for COVID relief fraud for using COVID-19 relief funds to buy a boat. The U.S. Attorney’s Office seized the 40-foot catamaran. Now, they are hoping to take possession of his million-dollar property in St. James City and about $2 million they said he acquired as part of the illegal deals he made.

Attorneys hope to bring the trial to closure on Friday.