Boy band mogul and scum bag extraordinaire, Lou Pearlman, is no longer on the run. Pearlman had been hiding out in an Indonesian hotel when immigration officials informed him that he is not welcome in their country and turned him over to US officials. He was escorted by the FBI to Guam, a US territory, where he was immediately arrested. In February, all of Pearlman’s Florida properties and documents were seized and he is now facing numerous federal charges and civil suits.
While the federal charges remain publicly unknown, Pearlman has been charged in both state and federal court with civil complaints alleging widespread fraud in an “employee investment savings account ” program he ran for more than two decades through his Trans Continental Airlines company.
The civil suits, including one from the Florida Office of Financial Regulation, have alleged he received more than $317 million from more than 1,800 investors who were told their money was going into safe, secured, high-interest accounts. They money instead fueled a huge, long-running Ponzi scheme, in which later investments were used to keep earlier investors happy, the suits allege. In addition, a dozen banks have sued him after foreclosing on more than $130 million in loans.- Orlando Sentinel
Pearlman fell off the radar in January, but popped up on German television in support of boy band US5, who was touring throughout the country at the time. He then disappeared again, leading the FBI on a global chase before being turned over by Indonesian authorities and expelled from the country. Pearlman is currently being held in Guam and could remain there for weeks. With fraud claims exceeding a half billion dollars, Pearlman could be facing a minimum of 30 years in prison.
Click here for a list of Pearlman’s many, many lawsuits over the years.