A former executive of the once-popular cinema subscription company MoviePass got a starring role in a real-life drama, convicted of using company funds to settle a personal debt. Khalid Itum, 43, got found guilty of wire fraud by a jury in Los Angeles, the Justice Department reported.
Serving as an executive of MoviePass from November 2017 to March 2019, Itum orchestrated a scheme to siphon at least $260,000 from MoviePass and its parent company, Helios & Matheson Analytics (HMNY), in an attempt to brazenly cover his financial missteps. These funds were originally pilfered to urgently repay debts from a personal venture at the Coachella music festival. Despite his defense, the jury ultimately decided to hold him accountable, acquitting him on two counts of money laundering but affirming his guilt on two counts of wire fraud.
According to trial evidence, Itum had set up Kaleidoscope Productions LLC in Los Angeles for marketing and production services. In 2017, the company promoted an event at Coachella, but neither MoviePass nor HMNY had any stake in that event. However, Itum had borrowed money to fund his Coachella event from two individuals, and instead of finding legitimate means to pay them back, he chose to deceitfully route funds from the coffers of MoviePass and HMNY using falsified invoices.
His sentencing is scheduled for April 29, where Itum is to face up to 20 years in federal prison for each wire fraud count. The elaborate embezzlement was uncovered and investigated by the FBI's New York Field Office, with considerable aid from the Los Angeles Field Office. Assistance United States Attorneys David Y. Pi and Mark Aveis prosecuted the case. For more details on this unraveling story of deception, Ciaran McEvoy, Public Information Officer for the Justice Department, can be reached for comments.
