Promoter must repay millions
ORLANDO, Fla. -- Lou Pearlman and federal authorities have finally agreed on how much the former boy band promoter swindled from banks and investors in a decades-long scam: a staggering $300 million.
That’s how much creator of the Backstreet Boys and ‘N Sync will have to repay, at a minimum, for restitution on the fraud conviction for which he’s serving a 25-year prison sentence.
U.S. District Judge G. Kendall Sharpe on Wednesday asked prosecutors and defense attorneys to amend court documents with the agreed amount. It will be difficult for Pearlman to repay all the money while he is behind bars. Pearlman made millions in the record industry in the 1990s, but investigators have found that money and more seemingly gone with the collapse of his Ponzi scheme.
In May, Sharpe said he would shave a month off Pearlman’s sentence for each $1 million he returned. So far, Asst. U.S. Atty. Roger Handberg said, no additional money has been recovered.
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