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Don Cisternino, PPP Fraud, Tampa FL, 2022
TAMPA, FL – While families struggled and businesses shuttered during the height of the pandemic, a select few saw COVID-19 relief funds as a personal piggy bank. The Middle District of Florida has been quietly but aggressively pursuing those who exploited federal programs, and the results are starting to pile up. So far, prosecutors have secured convictions against 18 defendants accused of attempting to defraud the government of over $35 million.
The scheme was simple, yet audacious: apply for loans intended to keep businesses afloat and employees paid, then divert the funds to lavish personal expenses. Don Cisternino, for example, allegedly conjured a movie production company out of thin air to secure a $7.2 million Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loan. He didn’t spend it on payroll or rent. Instead, he dropped nearly $3.5 million on a sprawling 12,579 square-foot luxury estate complete with seven bedrooms, eleven bathrooms, a theater, a resort-style pool, tennis courts, and even a horse barn – all on twelve acres of land. The feds didn’t let him enjoy it for long.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office, working with federal, state, and local law enforcement, completed a civil forfeiture of the estate, selling it earlier this year for over $4 million. That money will be returned to the programs Cisternino attempted to fleece. Cisternino himself was recently extradited from Croatia and arraigned on April 29, 2022, with assistance from the Justice Department’s Office of International Affairs. He now faces the music in Orlando.
Casey Crowther took a similar route. He secured a $2.1 million PPP loan for his roofing company, then promptly used it to buy a 40-foot catamaran boat for nearly $700,000. The brazen purchase didn’t go unnoticed. Crowther was convicted following a trial in Fort Myers and sentenced to over three years in federal prison in June 2021. He was also ordered to forfeit the boat and over $3 million in fraudulently obtained funds.
These are just two examples from the Middle District of Florida COVID-19 Fraud Task Force, formed in March 2020. The Task Force has indicted 28 defendants to date, and while ten cases remain pending, prosecutors are clearly sending a message: stealing from pandemic relief programs won’t be tolerated. Beyond the criminal cases, the District’s Asset Recovery Division has already recovered over $14.3 million in fraudulently obtained PPP, EIDL, and Unemployment Insurance funds, with another $8.5 million seized and awaiting forfeiture.
U.S. Attorney Roger B. Handberg stated, “Throughout the pandemic, my office and our law-enforcement partners have used all available methods to combat fraud related to COVID-19, and we will continue to do so.” He added that the office will continue to disrupt fraud schemes, prosecute offenders, and recover stolen funds. The investigation is ongoing, and more indictments are expected as the Task Force continues to untangle the web of pandemic-related fraud.
Key Facts
- Agency: U.S. Secret Service
- Category: Fraud & Financial Crimes
- Source: Official Press Release
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