Film producer David Brown was arrested Wednesday on charges of fraudulent business partners starting at $12 million by creating fake companies and using investor funds to pay personal expenses.
Brown, 39, was charged with 21 counts of wire fraud, money laundering and identity theft. Above all, he has been accused of establishing a company called Hollywood Covid Testing LLC and using it to bill productions for Covid testing that did not occur.
Prosecutors claim that Brown will also scam investors in real estate and film deals, purchase the 2025 Mercedes-Benz G-wagon and his mother’s home Teslas series, paying mortgages, installing pools and sub-zero freezers, paying private school tuition fees, and putting them in the $70,000 Salo-Losia service.
He is also accused of diverting $970,263 in investor funds to an entity that was founded to make a film about her invitation by Patty Hearst and the Symbion Liberation Army.
Brown produced the 2021 film “The Fallout,” starring Jenna Ortega, who won the Big Jue Award at South by Southwest. He is also listed as the executive producer of the 2024 film “The Apprentice,” about young Donald Trump.
Last year, Brown announced the launch, production, sales and financial entities of Screen Company.
“I believe in the power of storytelling,” he said at the time. “Our mission is to provide reliable and flexible funding that will enable exceptional stories.”
Brown has been repeatedly sued by investors who accused him of fraud. The Los Angeles Times covered allegations against him extensively in 2023. Brown denied allegations in the papers, saying they were the result of misunderstandings.
Brown once lived in Sherman Oaks, but has since moved to South Carolina, where he was arrested Wednesday. He first appeared in federal court and was later arrested in Los Angeles.
In addition to producing, he has worked as a unit production manager and production accountant.
