Boy band creator pleads guilty in $300 million fraud
A former boy band mogul pleaded guilty on Thursday to an audacious fraud that used fake accountants, fake bank accounts and a dead man’s signature to swindle banks and investors out of more than $300 million.Lou Pearlman, known for launching the Backstreet Boys and ‘N Sync, took a plea deal in a U.S. court in Orlando on two counts of conspiracy involving bank and investor fraud, one of money laundering and one of making false claims in a bankruptcy.
“I’m accepting full responsibility,” Pearlman, 53, told U.S. District Judge G. Kendall Sharp.
The pudgy, white-haired Pearlman, wearing blue jail scrubs and shackles, acknowledged the details of the fraud laid out in his plea deal during almost an hour of questioning by Sharp.
The judge set a sentencing date of May 21. The charges carry a maximum prison term of 25 years and a $1 million fine, but the deal offers Pearlman the possibility of a reduced sentence in exchange for full cooperation in recovering money to repay investors.
Boy band creator pleads guilty in $300 million fraud | Entertainment | Music | Reuters
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