A federal grand jury has indicted a 40-year-old woman from a top-rated Chicago suburb on fraud charges, alleging she swindled victims out of $3.5 million by falsely claiming the money would support immigration services and projects for war-weary Ukraine.
Tatian Bazer, of the premiere suburb of Buffalo Grove, tapped some victims for six-figure contributions and loans and spent much of the money for her personal use, according to the United States Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Illinois.
“Bazer concealed the fraud by sending the victims false records, including bogus wire transfer receipts and fraudulent checks, the indictment states,” a statement from the office said Tuesday.
When Bazer came under scrutiny from federal investigators, her alleged lies became even more audacious, according to the grand jury’s indictment.
According prosecutors:
Furthermore, after learning that federal law enforcement was investigating her fraud scheme, Bazer pretended to be FBI agents, a prosecutor, and a criminal defense attorney to lull victims into believing that her case would be resolved and that victims would receive their money back, the indictment states.
The fraud began in December of 2021 and lasted through February in 2026 and involved at least six victims in the Chicago area, the indictment stated.
Some of the purchases made with the duped investor’s money included “luxury watches,” the indictment stated.
How she was able to convince contributors to hand over money, even admittedly for her own apparent legal troubles, remains unclear.
Bazer even received money as “loans” to “help resolve her purported arrest for shoplifting, which actually had not occurred,” according to the indictment.
The indictment listed Bazer having accounts at various large banks, including Citibank, Wells Fargo, and JPMorgan Chase, including a Chase account under the name “TB International, Inc.”
According to the indictment, when some “investors” sought repayment for her purported “loans,” Bazer would transmit “text messages to victims that contained images of false or falsely altered records” that showed she possessed millions of dollars and had “initiated a wire transfer of funds to a victim’s bank account.”
Bazar, however, did not intend to repay them, according to investigators, and apparently used such tactics to continue stringing her marks along.
Buffalo Grove, a village of 43,000 people about 30 miles north of downtown Chicago, is ranked among the top communities in Illinois and the U.S., according to the community rating service Niche.
“This recognition is a testament to the values that define Buffalo Grove,” Village President Eric Smith said of the rating. “From top-tier schools and safe neighborhoods to a strong sense of community, BG continues to be a place where people choose to live, work, learn, and raise their families.”
The indictment charges Bazar with seven counts of wire fraud and two counts of impersonating a federal law enforcement officer. She has pled not guilty in a federal court in Chicago.
Each count of wire fraud carries a maximum sentence of 20 years in federal prison, while each count of impersonating a federal law enforcement officer is punishable by up to three years, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
Veteran crime writer Lowell Cauffiel is the best-selling author of the Los Angeles crime novel Below the Line and nine other crime novels and nonfiction titles. See lowellcauffiel.com for more.
