Hollywood producers stole the movie from the movie and ran away from the Ponzi scheme,” the Fed said

Prosecutors alleged Wednesday that a Hollywood producer had cast film and business partners over $12 million, claiming he was using their money to work in movies or other legal businesses, but instead using it to buy expensive cars, homes and even agents.

David Brown, who has been a producer of independent Hollywood productions for many years, has a certificate as producer of the festival’s darling “The Fallout” starring Jenna Ortega, who won the narrative competition for South by South by Southwest and “Apprentice” about the rise of Donald Trump.

But Brown appears to be bringing together a successful production business, and he also deceived numerous victims through sneaky funds that belong to the production company and transferred the money to himself or the business he controls.

Brown recorded the traces of fraud charges in an email to The Times, who said he made mistakes in the past but denied deceiving anyone.

“I have to work very hard to get to where I am today,” he said. “I have to overcome a lot. I have to fight for my position. …I’m not a bad guy.”

Brown was charged Wednesday with 21 counts of wire fraud, transaction-based money laundering and aggravated identity theft. He made his first court appearance in South Carolina.

Prosecutors claim Brown, who lives in Sherman Oaks, has adopted a series of tactics to deceive his business partners.

He convinced a victim to put money into a company called “Movie Holding Capital,” which would have funded the film project. But Brown took the person’s money and used it to “maintain his own lifestyle and repay previous victims in the plan of the Ponzi scheme.”

In other cases, Brown used the production company’s funds to pay the Hollywood co-test to companies he controlled “because services that were never offered or had been paid for.” Prosecutors said.

He also told one victim that they could pool money and make money. Prosecutors said he contributed little to the business and used some of the victims’ money for other purposes.

Brown made sure to cover up his lattice past to potential business partners. According to federal prosecutors, he tried not to let them know about the 2023 article in the New York Times, or about the widespread lawsuit against him.

The 2023 article (Times visited over 30 people) details a series of allegations against Brown by his film partners, including his forged signature of Kevin Spacey and telling film investors that Spacey has agreed to take on the main role in the film for $100,000. But his former manager told The Times that Spacey didn’t sign the movie and didn’t even know what it was. Brown denied forging Spacey’s signature.

Prosecutors said Brown made a luxury purchase with the money he stole from the victims.

Prosecutors said he purchased the 2025 Mercedes-Benz G-Wagon and three Tesla men, including the 2024 Seberli prosecutor. Prosecutors said he used the funds to mortgage his home, rebuild the home, and installed the swimming pool for about $100,000.

Prosecutors said he even bought a house for his mother with unflattering cash.

On top of that, Brown also allegedly used the stolen money to pay $70,000 in surrogacy, paying private school tuition for children and other services.

Prosecutors said he stole more than $12 million from the victims.

Brown will be detained in South Carolina in federal custody and will file a lawsuit in the coming weeks, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office of Central California.