Detective agency owner Craig Case remains jailed with multiple felony charges and changes his attorney

SANTA BARBARA, Calif. - Appearing from jail via Zoom, detective agency owner Craig Case changed his attorney while his case was heard in Santa Barbara Superior Court Tuesday.

Josh Lynn has stepped down and a Public Defender has been appointed.

Multiple felony grand theft and fraud charges have been filed by the Santa Barbara County District Attorney's Office involving Case, who is accused of fraudulent acts involving the estate of an elderly Montecito woman, Constance McCormick Fearing. She passed away last year.

Case was arrested at the courthouse Jul. 11, while appearing for another case where he is accused of felony violations involving a concealed weapons permit.

His bail is currently set at $700,000.

He is also facing a civil lawsuit for related charges.

The California Attorney General's Office has also become involved and it is the agency that can issue, suspend or revoke a permit for a detective business. In a previous court hearing, Case was told to hand over control of his business to someone else while his legal matters were dealt with.

In July, Senior Deputy District Attorney Brian Cota brought up several examples of money issues that he was concerned about including money that was urgently moved to a special financial account by Case as bank search warrants were issued.

Action to freeze the money took place. Cota was concerned about how legitimate the money is, believing there was a likelihood it was not legally obtained.

If Case posts bail, he will have to show where those funds are coming from and abide by other strict court rules.

Also allegedly involved is Nancy Coglizer, who had power of attorney over the Fearing estate and provided Case with thousands of dollars in checks in what investigators said were believed to be loans.

She is cooperating with investigators and in a prior hearing, an attorney said Coglizer did not take any money herself.

Case returns to court in September for a preliminary hearing where more details on the case will be laid out.

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