SANTA ANA, California – A Mission Viejo man who allegedly bilked his employer out of nearly $1 million by using his consulting company to submit bills for internet marketing services that were not performed has been indicted by a federal grand jury.

John Bauche, 36, was named in a six-count indictment returned yesterday by the grand jury. The indictment specifically charges Bauche with five counts of mail fraud and one count of money laundering.

Bauche was employed by Masimo, an Irvine medical technology company that developed patient monitoring equipment. While employed there, Bauche was assigned to enhance the internet profile of Masimo and the Patient Safety Movement Foundation (PSM) – a philanthropic organization established by the owner of Masimo – through search engine optimization (SEO).

The indictment alleges that Bauche set up a company called Boundless Rise LLC in early 2014 to perform SEO work for Masimo. Bauche allegedly failed to disclose to Masimo that he controlled Boundless Rise and falsely claimed that Boundless Rise was the best qualified vendor to perform the SEO work.

Bauche submitted false invoices through Boundless Rise to his employer between February 2014 and July 2016 for work that was not performed, according to the indictment, which further alleges that very little of the money paid to Boundless Rise went to anyone other than Bauche.

As a result of the fraudulent scheme, Masimo and PSM paid Boundless Rise approximately $958,000, some of which was used to pay Bauche's American Express bills after he made purchases from Amazon, airlines, Uber, domestic and foreign hotels, and concert venues, the indictment alleges. In November 2016, the FBI seized $642,643 of the allegedly stolen funds from the Boundless Rise bank account.

Bauche is expected to be ordered to appear for an arraignment in United States District Court in early 2018.

An indictment contains allegations that a defendant has committed a crime. Every defendant is presumed to be innocent until and unless proven guilty in court.

If he were to be convicted of all counts alleged in the indictment, Bauche would face a statutory maximum sentence of 120 years in federal prison.

The investigation into Bauche's alleged scheme is being conducted by the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

This case against Bauche is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Gregory Staples of the Santa Ana Branch office.

Component(s): USAO – California, Central

Contact: Thom Mrozek Spokesperson/Public Affairs Officer United States Attorney's Office Central District of California (Los Angeles) 213-894-6947

Press Release Number: 17-225 Updated December 21, 2017

Central District of California DOJ / 17-225 / December 21, 2017