FBI Arrests Auburn Couple Who Failed To Show For April Sentencing

PORT HADLOCK, WA —An Auburn couple who had been on the run since failing to appear in federal court on April 29, was arrested early Tuesday by the FBI in Port Hadlock, according to FBI Seattle.

A spokesperson for the FBI said Bernard Ross Hansen, 61, and Diane Renee Erdmann, 49, were arrested at the Hadlock Motel. The couple had switched out the plates on their vehicle and had checked into the hotel under the names Ben and Kat Alexander, the spokesperson said.

The couple was scheduled to appear in the U.S. District Court of Western Washington on Wednesday afternoon.

The pair had failed to appear for sentencing in the same court on April 29, after being convicted of multiple counts of mail fraud and wire fraud in July 2021, following a federal fraud investigation. At that point, Hansen and Erdmann were considered fugitives, according to the FBI.

According to the U.S. Attorney's Office Western District of Washington, Hanson had been the CEO of a now-bankrupt precious metals firm Northwest Territorial Mint (NWTM) when he defrauded more than 2500 customers out of $25 million in a Ponzi-like scheme. He was convicted of 14 federal felonies.

Erdmann, who was a vault manager at the company, was convicted of 13 counts of wire fraud and mail fraud in the trial, authorities said.

According to court records in the case, Hansen and Erdmann defrauded NWTM customers in several ways, including: lying about shipping times for bullion, using customer money to expand the business to other states, and using customer money to pay their own personal expenses.

When the company lacked the assets to fulfill customer orders, Hansen and Erdmann used new customer money to pay off older customers in a Ponzi-like scheme, according to court records.

Evidence at the trial also demonstrated that Hansen and Erdman defrauded customers who paid their company to safely and securely store billion in NWTM vaults. However, Hansen and Erdmann used this bullion to fulfill other orders, according to evidence presented in court.

'They tried to make this company look solid —like the metals they sold — but in fact, it was a house of cards," Assistant U.S. Attorney Benjamin Diggs told the jury during closing arguments of Hansen and Erdmann's July 2021 trial.