A man who posed as a Hollywood producer and conned investors out of $3.4 million (£2.3 million) for a phony show has been sentenced to nearly four years in prison for violating his probation.
Joseph Medawar pleaded guilty to tax evasion and conspiracy after scamming millions out of friends and colleagues with a bogus TV project about America's Department of Homeland Security back in May 2006.
He was originally sentenced to a year in jail and community service - which was later reduced to probation.
However, Medawar used some of his community service hours to go to the gym and watch movies, according to The Los Angeles Times.
He was punished on Tuesday for the probation violation, with U.S. District Judge Manuel L. Real sentencing Medawar to 45 months behind bars.
Joseph Medawar pleaded guilty to tax evasion and conspiracy after scamming millions out of friends and colleagues with a bogus TV project about America's Department of Homeland Security back in May 2006.
He was originally sentenced to a year in jail and community service - which was later reduced to probation.
However, Medawar used some of his community service hours to go to the gym and watch movies, according to The Los Angeles Times.
He was punished on Tuesday for the probation violation, with U.S. District Judge Manuel L. Real sentencing Medawar to 45 months behind bars.
- 1/19/2011
- WENN
A former Los Angeles resident has been indicted in connection with a scheme to scam investors by getting them to fund a nonexistent television series about the Department of Homeland Security, prosecutors said. Alison Heruth was arrested Friday at her home in Minnesota on suspicion of lying to authorities about her knowledge of the scam run by her longtime associate, Joseph Medawar, the U.S. Attorney's Office in Los Angeles said. Heruth is accused of pretending to be the lead actress in the show, DHS. The more than $5.5 million raised from investors allegedly was diverted to Medawar, Heruth and others to pay for personal expenses, such as home rentals, jewelry, child care, food and entertainment and automobile leases.
- 2/17/2006
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
A Los Angeles man who falsely claimed to be producing a television series based on the Department of Homeland Security was indicted by a federal grand jury Thursday for allegedly scamming investors out of at least $5.5 million, according to prosecutors. Joseph Medawar, 43, is accused of mail fraud, wire fraud and money laundering in the 23-count indictment. He has been held in jail without bond since his arrest on Sept. 23. The U.S. Attorney's Office in Los Angeles also announced that the former finance chief of Medawar's company, Steeple Entertainment, has agreed to plead guilty to concealing the scheme from federal investigators. Prosecutors contend that, from May 2003 through September 2005, Medawar got at least 70 investors to buy stock in Steeple Entertainment by claiming that the company was worth more than $200 million and would soon be conducting an initial public offering.
- 10/20/2005
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
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