Jason Cloth, a financier with executive producer credits on “Joker,” “Babylon,” and “Ghostbusters: Afterlife,” has been indicted in Chicago on allegations that he ran a $100 million Ponzi scheme.
Cloth, 60, faces seven counts of wire fraud for allegedly lying to investors about how their money would be used. According to the indictment, he took money intended for a film project and a gaming platform and used it to pay off investors in a Canadian real estate project.
Cloth was arrested on Tuesday in Los Angeles, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Chicago.
Cloth has faced several suits from investors who accused him of absconding with their money. In one case in Chicago, a group of investors alleged they were swindled out of $80 million, which was intended to finance “Ghostbusters: Afterlife,” “Monkey Man,” and other films.
“He’s been at this for so long,” said Alexander Loftus, a Chicago attorney who filed the suit. “The core Cloth sales pitch is that he invested in ‘Joker’ and that was a huge financial success. He didn’t tell them he way oversubscribed and stiffed the investors … Every time, he uses the new thing to pay off the first thing.”
