Star Witness Testifies in Craig Case Embezzlement Trial

Co-Conspirator Nancy Coglizer Has Pleaded Guilty to Felony Conspiracy Charges for Allegedly Helping Case Steal $700,000

Craig Case is accused of stealing nearly $700,000 from Constance McCormick Fearing, a longtime arts patron who lived at the 14-acre Oakhaven Estate in Romero Canyon. | Credit: Courtesy

The prosecution’s star witness, Nancy Coglizer, began her multi-day testimony this week in the trial of Craig Alan Case, who is accused of defrauding 94-year-old Montecito resident Constance McCormick Fearing out of nearly $700,000.

Case allegedly manipulated Coglizer, Fearing’s longtime bookkeeper and power of attorney, into writing him checks while she was struggling with mental health and substance abuse issues. Coglizer has pleaded guilty to two felony charges of conspiracy and financial elder abuse and will be sentenced at the end of the trial. She faces up to nine years in prison.

Coglizer began working with now-deceased Fearing in 2000. “Once a week, we would sit in the library and talk while I was opening the mail,” Coglizer reminisced, smiling. Over the next 19 years, the two grew close, with Coglizer becoming a friend to Fearing and quasi-property manager, on top of her regular bookkeeping duties.

Coglizer would print out checks for Fearing’s everyday bills, 24/7 caregivers, and home repairs, then bring them to Fearing’s Romero Canyon estate for her signature. Occasionally, Fearing would employ Craig Case’s security services for her events, Coglizer said.

In 2018, Fearing’s health began to decline. By the fall, Fearing’s eyesight had worsened to the point where she could hardly sign her own checks, of which there were hundreds each month.

“I said, ‘I can’t do it for you. But if you want me to, we need to go to the lawyer and make a change,’” Coglizer testified. After some discussion, Fearing appointed Coglizer as her power of attorney in August 2018.

However, the death of Coglizer’s mother a few months prior sent her spiraling into a state of grief, depression, and alcoholism. “I don’t even remember that first year” after her death, Coglizer said, crying on the stand. Even her husband didn’t give her a shoulder to cry on, she said, but Craig Case did.

Case seemed to be the only one “asking how I was doing,” she said. Case had known the Fearing family for at least a decade and was considered an upstanding Santa Barbara citizen. The kindness he showed Coglizer during a time of distress seemed to align with his reputation. “He became a friend,” she testified.

So, when Case asked “if Connie had any extra money for a short-term loan” of $20,000, Coglizer complied. “I trusted him. I trusted his long-term relationship with Connie.” Case advised Coglizer to cut two checks, each for $10,000.

When pressed by DA prosecutor Brian Cota if she knew that what she was doing was wrong, Coglizer defended herself. “I honestly didn’t think that … I thought it was something [Fearing] would’ve done.”

Coglizer testified she was unaware that at the time Case had recently defaulted on a $50,000 loan from Santa Barbara winemaker Roger Bower and was facing more than $250,000 in state and federal tax liens.

Cota took the jury through almost every one of the 104 checks Coglizer wrote to Case from Fearing’s account — some memo-less, some with the memo “gate and security consulting.” The checks ranged in amount from $2,500 to $15,000.

Coglizer testified that every time, Case would ask to meet her for coffee or a meal. He would ask how she was doing, then, on the way out, request another loan. Case always dictated the amounts, she said, and many times would advise her to split larger amounts into multiple, smaller checks. By July 2019, less than a year after the first check, Coglizer had signed over $200,000 from Fearing’s account to Case.

Coglizer testified that she could “barely function” at the time because of her alcoholism. “I don’t know how much worse it could’ve gotten.” Her friends and family noticed and pleaded with her to get help. Case continued to ask for money.

In February 2020, Coglizer entered an inpatient rehabilitation center in Malibu. A few days after being admitted, Case called. Within a couple of hours, he had driven down to Malibu, spent 15 minutes talking to Coglizer, and walked out of the rehab facility with two $15,000 checks, Coglizer recalled.

After she left rehab, her relationship with Case continued to develop. Despite flirty texts between the two that were shown to the jury, Coglizer testified that there was “nothing physical the whole time.”

By the time Coglizer had signed checks to Case for more than $600,000 in September 2020, she had begun to inquire about “when he was going to pay Mrs. Fearing back.” Coglizer testified that she was worried he would “disappear” if she stopped giving him money and thought it was smart to “keep her enemy close.” As a result, Coglizer pressed Case for repayment but continued to write him checks.

In November 2020, Fearing appointed David Mokros — Coglizer’s former employer — to be a co-trustee of her estate along with Coglizer. Knowing Mokros would eventually discover the checks to Case, Coglizer pleaded via text with Case to pay back the money, but he offered a different solution.

Case wanted to “bury the money” using a backdated retainer agreement for his security services, Coglizer testified. While the two tried to hash out “believable” details of the agreement via email in April 2021, Case began avoiding and ignoring Coglizer. Eventually, she admitted what she had done to Mokros, who took her confession to the police.

In June 2021, Coglizer sent a text to Case: “Time’s up. You have destroyed my life. I will not go down alone.”

The trial will continue with Coglizer’s cross-examination on February 13.