ST. GEORGE — A Washington County man is one of nine defendants indicted in federal court, accused of playing a role in a $100 million scam involving the sale of nutritional and dietary supplements – a scheme that involved straw buyers, fake storefronts, thousands of transactions and hundreds of companies – all set up to deceive consumers and bilk millions from payment processing centers.
The United States Attorney’s Office District of Utah announced Wednesday that nine Utahns, including 44-year-old Dustin Garr, of St. George, are facing 18 federal charges that include six counts of wire fraud, five counts of aggravated identity theft, two counts of aggravated identity theft and one count each of wire fraud, bank fraud and money laundering.
The nine named in the indictment are accused of engaging in interrelated fraud and money laundering activities that netted the group more than $100 million from banks and payment processing centers – an operation that went on for more that six years starting in 2016 and continued through April of this year.
The remaining eight defendants include three out of Salt Lake County which are April Gren Bawden, 36, Chad Austin Bawden, 43, and 52-year-old Phillip Gannuscia. Four defendants were out of Utah County, including 39-year-old Makaio Lyman Crisler, Barbara Jo Jackson, 69, Brent Goldburn Knudson and Richard Scott Nemrow, both 42 years old, while another defendant resided in Washington State, 45-year-old Robert McKinley, of...
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