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SALT LAKE CITY — A former Kane County man who authorities say impersonated a federal judge as part of a long-running fraud scheme in which he promised investors millions of dollars faces criminal charges.
Kurt Jurgens Bauer, 56, who has also lived in Las Vegas, is charged with three counts of wire fraud and two counts of false impersonation of an employee of the United States in a recently unsealed federal indictment.
Bauer told people that the U.S. District Court in Nevada had frozen funds due to him and that the court required “bond” payments to secure the money. He solicited victims to make the payments — often on a weekly basis — with the promise of large returns when the money was released to him, according to the indictment.
As part of the nearly decadelong scheme, Bauer and his accomplices impersonated federal judges and federal court administrators during communications with people to convince them the process was real and to persuade them to keep making payments, the indictment says.
Bauer also allegedly created false identities, including phone numbers and email accounts, of a New York attorney, a federal court employee and a billionaire that he used to solicit money.
Prosecutors say he had no prospect of receiving large amounts of money and no court was holding money he was entitled to nor did he have any way of paying the promised returns.
The indictment alleges Bauer took more than $300,000 from investors, including at least $200,000 from two victims age 82 and 80.
Bauer spent the money on himself, including paying hotel bills, credit cards and restaurants, among other things, prosecutors say.
“Kurt Bauer’s alleged crimes were based on lies that he perpetuated for many years,” Special Agent in Charge Paul Haertel of the Salt Lake City FBI said in a statement. “The hundreds of thousands of dollars he’s accused of swindling from his victims, including the elderly, didn’t go toward legitimate investments, but to pay his bills.”
Bauer was arrested following the return of the indictment in late July. If convicted, he faces up to 20 years in prison for each count of wire fraud and up to three years for each false impersonation charge.
