Hollywood producer Jason Cloth charged with $100 million investment fraud
Federal prosecutors in Illinois indicted Beverly Hills-based film producer Jason Cloth on seven wire-fraud counts, alleging he misled investors and misappropriated more than $100 million.
A Los Angeles federal court arraigned Jason Cloth, 60, on seven wire-fraud charges after a Chicago grand jury unsealed an indictment accusing him of defrauding investors of over $100 million. The indictment alleges that between 2019 and 2026 Cloth solicited funds for supposed film, entertainment and gaming projects through his Canadian-registered company, Creative Wealth Media Finance Corp., while knowingly diverting the money to other ventures, including a real-estate development in Canada.
Prosecutors say Cloth obtained the funds from an Illinois investment adviser, the adviser’s clients, and additional investors by making false statements about the performance and value of the investments, and then used new investor money to repay earlier investors in a scheme described as a Ponzi operation.
Cloth, who is listed on IMDb as a producer of titles such as “Joker” and “Ghostbusters: Afterlife,” was taken into custody in Los Angeles and made his initial court appearance on Tuesday. The Justice Department’s statement noted that the indictment seeks forfeiture of at least $12.25 million tied to the identified projects. Each wire-fraud count carries a potential sentence of up to 20 years in prison.