David Ozer, LI entertainment executive, pleads guilty in TV show embezzlement case
The Long Island president of a North Carolina entertainment production company has pleaded guilty to a federal fraud charge after authorities said he created fake accounting records and falsified correspondence in an effort to cover up an embezzlement that saw him misappropriate more than $200,000 from an unreleased television production.
The U.S. Department of Justice's Central District of California office announced the agreement Tuesday, saying David Ozer, 58, of Roslyn Heights, will appear in U.S. District Court in Los Angeles at a later date. The felony charge carries a maximum sentence of 20 years in federal prison.
Authorities said that as president of Strong Studios Inc., of Charlotte, North Carolina, Ozer misappropriated $214,486 in production funds from Ravenwood-Productions LLC, the principal financial backer of a yet-to-be-released supernatural thriller TV series titled "Safehaven."
Ozer created fraudulent accounting records, including falsified invoices, and forged a letter he claimed was from his accountant in an effort to show the expenses were legitimate production costs, the U.S. Attorney's Office said in its statement,
The accountant did not write the letter, the contents were false and Ozer used his accountant's name without his accountant's authorization, federal prosecutors said.
The falsified documents were presented to a lawyer for Strong Studios who transmitted the files via email to an attorney for Ravenwood on Jan. 3, the U.S. Attorney's Office said.
Authorities said the FBI is investigating the case.
The U.S. Attorney's Office said Ozer agreed to plead guilty to one count of wire fraud.
It was not immediately clear who was representing Ozer.
John Valenti, a reporter at Newsday since 1981, has been honored nationally by the Associated Press and Society of the Silurians for investigative, enterprise and breaking news reporting, as well as column writing, and is the author of “Swee'pea,” a book about former New York playground basketball star Lloyd Daniels. Valenti is featured in the Emmy Award-winning ESPN 30-for-30 film “Big Shot.”
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