Film Producer Jason Cloth Charged with $100 Million Fraud Scheme
Producer Jason Cloth, known for credits such as Joker and Longlegs, was indicted on multiple fraud counts for allegedly running a $100 million Ponzi scheme.
Los Angeles federal prosecutors have charged film producer Jason Cloth, 60, with a series of fraud offenses tied to an alleged $100 million Ponzi scheme. Cloth, who has produced titles including Joker, Longlegs and Babylon, was arrested on Tuesday and appeared in court later that day.
According to a 12-page indictment filed in the U.S. District Court in Chicago, Cloth operated Creative Wealth Media Finance Corp, a Canada-based entity, and solicited investors for supposed film, entertainment and gaming projects. Prosecutors say he misrepresented the performance and value of those investments, obtaining money from an Illinois investment adviser, the adviser’s clients and other investors while intending to divert the funds to unrelated purposes, including a real-estate development in Canada.
The indictment alleges that Cloth used new investor capital to repay earlier investors, constituting a classic Ponzi structure. The government is seeking forfeiture of at least $12.25 million linked to the scheme. Cloth faces seven counts of wire fraud, each carrying a potential sentence of up to 20 years in federal prison.
Cloth’s production résumé spans more than a dozen years and includes high-profile projects such as Joker, Longlegs, Babylon, The Birth of a Nation, The Addams Family and its 2022 sequel, Judas and the Black Messiah, Ghostbusters: Afterlife, Americana, Goodrich and the TV series Kin.