Auburn couple sentenced after fraud convictions

SEATTLE (AP) — An Auburn couple that defrauded thousands of people of more than $30 million was sentenced to prison on Monday.

Bernard Ross Hansen was sentenced to 11 years and Diane Renee Erdman received 5 years. A judge ordered them both to pay more than $30 million in restitution, KING5 reported.

Hansen, the former president and CEO of Northwest Territorial Mint, was convicted of 14 federal felonies, including wire fraud and mail fraud. Erdmann was convicted of 13 counts of wire fraud and mail fraud.

Prosecutors increased sentencing recommendations for Hansen and Erdmann to reflect an 11-day manhunt after they failed to appear at their original sentencing hearing.

When the couple was arrested on the Olympic Peninsula at the end of the search, they had three loaded guns in their vehicle, court records said.

The couple defrauded about 3,000 of their customers while running a bullion business, Northwest Territorial Mint, with offices in Auburn and Federal Way.

The two used customer money to expand the business and pay for personal expenses, prosecutors said. New customer money was used to pay off older customers. More than 2,500 paid for orders or made bullion sales or exchanges that were either never fulfilled or never refunded, resulting in a total loss of more than $25 million.