United States v. April Gren Bawden, et al.

Case Summary:

A federal grand jury has charged multiple Utah residents with $100 million worth of fraud and money laundering schemes involving the sale of dietary supplements. April Gren Bawden, 38, of Salt Lake County; Chad Austin Bawden, 45, of Salt Lake County; Makaio Lyman Crisler, 41, of Utah County; Phillip Gannuscia, 54, of Salt Lake County and Puerto Rico; Dustin Garr, 46, of Washington County; Barbara Jo Jackson, 71, of Utah County; Brent Goldburn Knudson, 46, of Utah County; Robert McKinley, 48, of Spokane, Washington; and Richard Scott Nemrow, 44, of Utah County, are charged with 18 counts of criminal activity, including conspiracy to commit wire fraud, conspiracy to commit bank fraud, conspiracy to commit money laundering, wire fraud, aggravated identity theft and money laundering aiding and abetting.

The indictment alleges, the scheme involved the sale of dietary supplements that were sold to consumers using misleading and fraudulent practices.  In order to effectuate their scheme, the defendants recruited and paid “straw owners” for use of their personal information to create sham LLCs to obtain merchant processing accounts for defendants to process the sales of the products.  The proceeds of the scheme were transferred to the defendants, who then purchased items such as a Lamborghini Urus, a 2020 Porsche 911 convertible, and a 2021 Nautique Paragon boat.

Upcoming Events:

This case is set for a 4-week jury trial to begin on Friday, March 28, 2025 at 9:30 a.m. in Room 8.100, 351 South West Temple, Salt Lake City, Utah.