Antonio Feliciano Crawford, Wire Fraud, Bank Fraud, False Claims, Washington 2021

SPokane, Washington – In a bold move to combat COVID-19 relief fraud, the United States Attorney’s Eastern Washington COVID-19 Strike Force has announced additional indictments and arrests. Vanessa R. Waldref, the United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Washington, revealed that a federal grand jury has returned two additional indictments in connection with fraudulent COVID-19 relief funding.

On March 27, 2020, the President signed into law the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act. The CARES Act provided a number of programs through which eligible small businesses could request and obtain relief funding intended to mitigate the economic impacts of the pandemic for small and local businesses. One program, the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) program, offered forgivable loans to eligible small businesses in order to retain or rehire employees who lost their jobs, or were in danger of doing so, due to the pandemic. Another program, the Economic Injury Disaster Loan (EIDL) program, provided low-interest loans that could be deferred until the conclusion of the pandemic to provide “bridge” funding for small businesses to maintain their operations during shutdowns and other economic circumstances caused by the pandemic.

The Indictment in United States v. Crawford charges Antonio Feliciano Crawford, age 54, of Mead, Washington, with 30 counts of wire fraud, bank fraud, and false claims arising from PPP and EIDL applications submitted during 2020 and 2021 on behalf of four companies purportedly owned and operated by Crawford: Tann LLC, Crawford Entertainment, A&M Personal Training LLC, and a sole proprietorship doing business as “Antonio Crawford.” The Indictment alleges that Crawford submitted false and fraudulent information and documentation, including fraudulent and fictitious purported tax returns for the companies, in order to obtain at least $186,971 in PPP and EIDL funding for which he was not eligible.

“COVID-19 relief programs were designed to provide a lifeline to struggling businesses during the pandemic. Due to the number of people and businesses that requested funding, some deserving businesses were not able to obtain funding to keep their business in operation. We created the Eastern Washington COVID-19 Fraud Strike Force to hold those accountable who abused these critical programs,” stated U.S. Attorney Waldref. “My Office will continue to lead the effort to prosecute those who stole money intended for those in legitimate need.”

In February 2022, U.S. Attorney Waldref and the U.S. Attorney’s Office (USAO) began working with federal law enforcement agencies to create and launch a COVID-19 Fraud Strike Force that would leverage partnerships between different agencies to aggressively investigate and prosecute fraud related to COVID-19 relief programs.

The Indictment in United States v. Crawford has been returned by a federal grand jury and is pending. Antonio Feliciano Crawford, age 54, of Mead, Washington, faces 30 counts of wire fraud, bank fraud, and false claims related to COVID-19 relief funding. The case will be prosecuted by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Washington.

Source: https://www.justice.gov/usao-edwa/pr/united-states-attorneys-eastern-washington-covid-19-strike-force-announces-additional