Hollywood producer William Sadleir was arrested and charged with defrauding investors, in this case, the private equity firm BlackRock, for almost $30 million:
Indie movie boss charged with defrauding a BlackRock fund to the tune of almost $30m:https://t.co/rt6icBfBW7
William Sadleir's studio, Aviron, distributed films like Serenity, starring Matthew McConaughey and Anne Hathaway.
The BlackRock fund had invested $75m in Aviron
— kadhim (＾ｰ^)ノ (@kadhim) May 22, 2020
He was also accused of applying for $1.7 million in fraudulent loans from the PPP program:
Hollywood Film Producer Charged with $1.7 Million COVID-Relief Fraud https://t.co/Nyf1Vjmp91
— Justice Department (@TheJusticeDept) May 22, 2020
Feds say he used the PPP money, that was supposed to pay employees, to pay off his credit cards, a car and other personal expenses:
The feds say Hollywood film producer William Sadleir used Paycheck Protection Program loans to pay off more than $80K in personal credit card debt and a $40K car loan. https://t.co/9yJe993r0G pic.twitter.com/UcEzUxKJtE
— Ryan J. Reilly (@ryanjreilly) May 22, 2020
Regular, legit businesses couldn’t get their loans, but good customers with fake businesses? No problem:
“This film producer allegedly made a series of misrepresentations to a bank and the Small Business Administration to illegally secure taxpayer money that he then used to fund his nearly empty personal bank account,” said U.S. Attorney Nick Hanna of the Central District of California. “The Paycheck Protection Program was implemented to help small businesses stay afloat during the financial crisis, and we will act swiftly against those who abuse the program for their own personal gain.”
Sadleir was fired in January. . .his bankers didn’t think to double-check?
Aviron Pictures Chairman William Sadleir Fired (EXCLUSIVE) https://t.co/Tmf5OzaI6k
— Variety (@Variety) January 4, 2020
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“This is a bigger BOOM than most realize”:
This is a bigger BOOM than most realize: financial fraud and movie financing…tied to one of Wall Street's biggest private equity firms. https://t.co/B59oRTcqzf
— Eric Garland (@ericgarland) May 22, 2020
Well, we’ll see. Apparently there were other shenanigans going on before these charges as well:
#BlackRock fires fund manager RANDY ROBERTSON for conflict-of-interest after he lent $75MILLION of investor money to indie movie studio #AvironPictures that later cast his DAUGHTER in one of their films.
Feb 2020https://t.co/mKCclMTVv2
Former chairman of Aviron: WILLIAM SADLEIR. https://t.co/2LhU6IhS3A— ImplausibleEndeavors (@MindOfMo) May 22, 2020
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