Producer, wife accused of bribery
A West Hollywood film producer and his wife were arrested by FBI agents Tuesday on charges of bribing a Thai government official to secure a contract to run an annual film festival in Bangkok, authorities said.
Gerald Green, who has more than a dozen producer credits in films, including “Salvador” and this year’s critically acclaimed “Rescue Dawn,” was arrested at LAX after arriving on a flight from Thailand, said FBI spokeswoman Laura Eimiller.
Green, 75, and his wife Patricia, 52, are charged with paying more than $1.7 million in bribes to an unnamed senior Thai government official to secure the film festival contract and other contracts worth more than $10 million, according to a Justice Department news release.
The Greens own Film Festival Management, a Los Angeles-based company formed in 2003 to bid for the contract to run Bangkok’s annual film festival.
According to a criminal complaint unsealed Tuesday in U.S. District Court in Los Angeles, the Greens bribed a Thai government official who served as president of the Bangkok film festival and governor of the tourism authority.
The Greens, who could not be reached for comment, face up to 10 years each in federal prison if convicted, authorities said.
--
Get the L.A. Times Politics newsletter
Deeply reported insights into legislation, politics and policy from Sacramento, Washington and beyond. In your inbox three times per week.
You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times.
