Date: 03-07-2021

Case Style:

Case Number: 4:20-cr-00082-DN

Judge:

Court: United States District Court for the District of Utah (Washington County)

Plaintiff's Attorney: United States District Attorney’s Office

Defendant's Attorney:

Criminal Defense Lawyer Directory

Description: St. George, Utah wire fraud charge criminal defense lawyer represented Dedandant, Kurt Bauer, age 57, who was charged with three counts of wire fraud and two counts of falsely impersonating U.S. government employees in connection with an advanced-fee scheme.

Between 2011 and 2020, Bauer created a fraudulent scheme where he told his victims that he was entitled to hundreds of millions of dollars—even billions—which were frozen in federal court proceedings. Bauer promised his victims that he would pay them large amounts of money if they would pay Bauer money up front, which he would then use to pay court fees to obtain the money frozen in the federal court proceedings. Bauer promised all of his victims large returns on their upfront investment. Bauer received at least $200,000 from two victims who were 80 and 82 years old, respectively, over the course of the scheme.

In order to carry out the fraud, Bauer created the false identities of a New York attorney, a federal court employee, and a billionaire, which he used to communicate with and solicit money from the victims of the scheme. Bauer would use these identities to solicit funds from these victims on a regular—sometimes weekly—basis. Bauer would tell his victims that the money in the federal court proceedings would be released soon and that he needed the funds to pay a “bond” which was required by the court. Bauer also impersonated federal judges and a federal court administrator during the scheme in order to convince the victims that the court proceedings were real, and to persuade victims to continue making payments.

In reality, Bauer had no prospects of receiving money from federal court proceedings; had relatively little wealth; and used the victims’ moneys on credit card payments, hotel bills, restaurants, and other personal expenses.

Assistant U.S. Attorneys in the Utah U.S. Attorney’s Office prosecuted the case. Special Agents from the FBI conducted the investigation. The U.S. Attorney’s Office worked closely with the Kane County Sheriff’s Office and Kane County Attorney’s Office to prosecute the case.

18:1343 FRAUD BY WIRE, RADIO, OR TELEVISION Wire Fraud; 18:2 Aiding and Abetting; 18:98l(a)(l)(C) and 28:246l(c) Intent to Seek Forfeiture
(1-3)

18:912 IMPERSONATING OFFICER OR EMPLOYEE OF U.S. False Personation of an Employee of the United States; 18:2 Aiding and Abetting
(4-5)

Outcome: Defendant was sentenced to 78 months, total as to all 5 counts. Upon rls, dft shall be on Supervised Release for 36 months. FINE: None. RESTITUTION: $856,422.00. SPA: $500.00 total, $100 per count.

Plaintiff's Experts:

Defendant's Experts:

Comments: