William Sadleir, 67, co-founded Aviron Pictures in 2017, distributing thrillers like “Kidnap” starring Halle Berry, and “Serenity” featuring Matthew McConaughey and Anne Hathway.
Federal prosecutors say Sadleir got the company started with a $75 million investment from BlackRock’s Multi-Sector Income Trust fund. But instead of using that money for movies, prosecutors say he put more than $30 million into his own pockets. According to court documents, Sadleir spent $14 million of the money to buy a lavish mansion in Beverly Hills, $3 million to remodel Aviron’s Hollywood offices, $250,000 to settle a legal dispute and $127,000 on a Tesla TSLA, -5.26%. He also paid himself and his wife $350,000. — Damian Williams, the U.S.
When approached by investigators in 2020, Sadleir allegedly admitted he had “f***ed up,” according to a civil complaint filed by the Securities and Exchange Commission.“While the decision to plead guilty is always difficult, it was important for Mr. Sadleir to take responsibility for his behavior. Mr. Sadleir apologizes to everyone who has been hurt by his actions,” attorney Matthew Schwartz wrote.
After discovering the money had disappeared, BlackRock filed a civil suit against Aviron and announced that it wrote off its entire $75 million investment. Blackrock later said it fired the manager of the fund for violating its conflict of interest rules because his actress daughter had appeared in a film Aviron had worked on.Fraud, the sequel Sadleir is separately facing charges in California of fraudulently filing in 2020 for $1.
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