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David Ozer, a veteran entertainment executive, was sentenced Tuesday to 18 months in prison for defrauding investors in the TV shows “Safehaven” and “Endangered.”
Ozer, 59, pleaded guilty last year to embezzling $214,000 from an investor in “Safehaven” by creating false invoices and a forged letter from his accountant. After the plea, additional victims came forward alleging a separate scheme in connection with the development of “Endangered.” Ozer pleaded guilty to a second wire fraud charge in January.
In addition to the prison term, Judge Stanley Blumenfeld ordered Ozer to pay $399,000 in restitution on Tuesday. Prosecutors had asked for a sentence of 33 months in prison, while his defense argued he should only face one year.
“Defendant is an experienced businessman in the entertainment industry,” prosecutors said in a sentencing memo. “He knew it was wrong to embezzle funds from his company’s principal financial backer, and he knew it was wrong to misappropriate funds from individual investors. Defendant did these things anyway.”
In a letter to the court, Ozer acknowledged that he had made “a terrible mistake that changed the course of my life.”
In May 2022, according to his defense, Ozer was on a business trip to seek investment when he began chatting on a hook-up app “with someone he thought was a lady looking for a successful man.” After he sent an “innocuous photo and a few messages,” the connection began threatening to expose him to his wife and family if he did not pay a ransom, his defense stated.
Ozer ultimately sent $275,000 to the extortionist in an effort to avoid the embarrassment, according to the defense memo. The payments caused him severe financial hardship, including the threatened foreclosure of his house, causing him to create false invoices and raid production funds, his defense stated.
“The funds I misused were not for luxury,” Ozer told the judge. “Rather, I was trying to protect my family, my career and my name. … The false invoices I created were meant to buy time — an incredibly foolish decision made under extreme duress. I understand that it was wrong, regardless of my intentions.”
As a result, he lost his 29-year marriage, his professional reputation and his career, he stated.
Ravenwood Productions, the principal investor in “Safehaven,” sued Ozer in April 2024, alleging that Ozer had used production funds to pay his mortgage and to “line his own pockets.” As part of the litigation, Ravenwood took control of the 10-episode series, which was shot in Canada in 2022 and has yet to be released.
According to prosecutors, Ozer duped five other investors, including two who were promised executive producer credit on “Endangered.” The prosecutors alleged that one of those victims — who lost $90,000 — suffered significant hardship, including being evicted from her apartment and having her car repossessed. She also could not afford to pay her parents’ mortgage.
Two additional victims came forward after the second guilty plea, the prosecutors stated.
English (US) ·