Talent Official Charged in Theft
The former comptroller for a defunct talent agency stole $403,000 in royalty payments from a trust account his firm operated for actors who had appeared in commercials, prosecutors said Monday.
Owusu Kissi, who was comptroller for J. Michael Bloom & Associates, a New York- and Los Angeles-based talent agency, is accused of writing $403,000 in checks from the trust account to his and his wife’s personal account, federal prosecutors said.
The agency had contracted with the Screen Actors Guild to collect and disburse royalty payments to actors. Kissi was able to hide the alleged scheme from 1996 to 1998 by relying on a “float” created by the daily receipt and payment of funds, U.S. Attorney Mary Jo White said.
The complaint does not identify individual actors alleged to have been victimized.
The scheme was discovered in 1998, when the talent agency was sold to Impact Holdings Inc., White said. Kissi has been charged with mail fraud.
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