The Manhattan District Attorney has indicted a former theatre agent named Roland Scahill for stealing $165,000 from investors in a fake Broadway play that would have starred actress Lupita Nyong'o.
According to the office of the district attorney, Scahill, the owner of a firm called RMS2 Productions, is alleged to have fraudulently raised money from seven investors for a non-existent one-woman show about the opera star Kathleen Battle, with Broadway's Booth Theater lined up for a production that would star Nyong'o, reports variety.com.
Scahill also claimed a deal had been made with American on-demand streaming website Netflix to film the play.
Representatives for all those parties, however, had no knowledge of the project. Scahill has pleaded not guilty to the charges.
The district attorney said the scheme, which involved raising $15,000 per share in the fake production in exchange for subsidiary rights that would generate revenue in the future, began in October 2014 and stepped up with the Netflix claim in January 2015.
"Mr. Schahill has pleaded not guilty. He is, therefore, entitled to the presumption of innocence. He should receive that," attorney James R. DeVita said.
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