Woman Pleads Guilty To Concert Fraud

A Southern California woman pleaded guilty Oct. 4 to wire fraud after convincing people to invest in a series of Christian rock concerts that never took place.

Lauren Baumann, who owns realty company Stewardship Estates in Alison Viejo and rents a mansion, collected nearly $1 million in investments, promising the money would host Christian battle-of-the-band events.

Instead, prosecutors say Baumann used the money to pay earlier investors, pay $10,000 monthly rental on the mansion and pay her children’s private school tuition.

She conned more than two dozen investors in Orange and Los Angeles counties.

Baumann, who apparently failed to disclose to her victims she was convicted of securities fraud in Texas in 1999, faces up to 20 years in prison when she is sentenced in federal court Dec. 12.