Two former Greeley health-care company owners have been indicted in what is being called one of the largest tax fraud cases in Colorado history.

William C. Crabbe, 56, of Kersey and James S. Rowan, 54, of Greeley, owners of Columbine Health Care Systems, Inc., were indicted this week by a federal grand jury in Denver several counts of failing to pay payroll taxes and tax evasion.

Both are set to appear at 2 p.m., Aug. 10, in U.S. District Court in Denver.

Columbine Health Care Systems, a national nurse staffing agency, went out of business in June 2003.

From 2000 to 2002, the indictment states Crabbe failed to pay more than $4.24 million in taxes and Rowan failed to pay more than $4.24 million in taxes.

The indictment also alleges that both defendants evaded the IRS in 2001 by concealing their income of approximately $200,000 by using a shell company, Global Management LLC, thus avoiding paying the IRS more than $70,000 in taxes owed.

Both men each face 11 counts of failure to pay over employee federal payroll taxes, 11 counts of failure to pay taxes; Crabbe faces two counts of filing false tax returns, and one count of tax evasion, while Rowan faces one count of tax evasion.