Source: Office of United States Attorneys
LOS ANGELES – The president of an entertainment production company, who pleaded guilty earlier this year to embezzling more than $200,000 from a television production, has agreed to plead guilty to new criminal conduct – this time, misappropriating more than $182,000 from investors in various television productions, the Justice Department announced today.
David Ozer, 59, of Roselyn Heights, New York, has agreed to plead guilty to one count of wire fraud, which carries a statutory maximum penalty of 20 years in federal prison. Ozer previously entered a guilty plea to a separate wire fraud charge on October 22.
Ozer is expected to make his initial appearance in United States District Court in downtown Los Angeles on January 24, 2025.
As he previously admitted as part of his guilty plea, Ozer is a producer and the president of Strong Studios Inc., a production company based in Charlotte, North Carolina. According to his plea agreement, Ozer swindled Ravenwood-Productions LLC, the principal financial backer of “Safehaven,” a supernatural thriller television series, by misappropriating approximately $214,486 in production funds from bank accounts for the production. Ozer also created fraudulent accounting records, including falsified invoices, and forged a letter purportedly from his accountant.
After news of Ozer’s first plea agreement was announced, additional victims came forward. As Ozer has admitted in his new plea agreement filed today, he enticed two victims to loan him money in connection with a television series titled “Endangered.” In return, Ozer’s victims were promised executive producer credits. He also solicited funds from another victim in connection with drafting a script. Despite Ozer’s claims that the script development was in progress, the victim learned from the screenwriter that the script neither had been written nor was the screenwriter paid by Ozer. Instead, Ozer misappropriated the three victims’ funds, which totaled approximately $182,500.
To create the false appearance that the misappropriated funds had been used for their intended purpose, Ozer created fraudulent documents, including falsified bank records, as well as forged correspondence from another producer.
Ozer is scheduled to be sentenced by United States District Judge Stanley Blumenfeld Jr. in his first fraud case on January 28, 2025.
The FBI is investigating this matter.
Assistant United States Attorneys Alexander B. Schwab of the Corporate and Securities Fraud Strike Force and Matt Coe-Odess of the General Crimes Section are prosecuting this case.