A lawsuit filed yesterday in Los Angeles County Superior Court alleges a complicated scheme by former employees to embezzle millions of dollars from Mantra Films, the Joe Francis-owned company that produces the Girls Gone Wild videos. The lawsuit presents compelling evidence uncovered by investigators that the tax indictment against Francis rose entirely out of efforts by a former accountant hoping to cover his theft of millions from Francis’ companies.
Michael Barrett was Chief Financial Officer and CPA for Mantra Films. Barrett handled finances for Mantra Films, Francis and his companies from 2002 to 2004, the years Barrett claims Francis made false deductions on his tax returns. After leaving the company, Barrett made accusations of fraud against Francis to the IRS in an attempt to collect a large reward.
Francis has long held that Barrett himself (a longtime CPA) was responsible for any possible irregularities in Francis’ tax returns, but now the real reason for Barrett’s attempts to get Francis in trouble are made clear in documents uncovered by investigators. According to Mantra Films’ lawsuit, Barrett and two other company employees, Roman Pelikh, Chief Technology Officer and Will L’Heureux, the company’s VP of Operations, conspired and formed a series of companies through which they could bilk Francis out of millions of dollars..
According to the lawsuit, using shadow companies doing business as WMR Marketing, named after the first letters of the perpetrator’s names (W)illiam, (M)ichael and (R)oman, CPI Telecom, Western PC Professionals and Office Trade Center, the three went wild, filing and then approving phony invoices they wrote themselves. Additionally, the lawsuit charges that at least one of the three, Roman Pelikh, filed hundreds of thousands of dollars in false expense reports, for which he reimbursed himself through the company payroll.
Mantra Films has filed a report with the Santa Monica Police Department. So far, no arrests have made. In addition, Mantra Films has filed suit against the three conspirators, seeking millions in damages.
Mantra Films’ lawyer David Schack of K&L Gates says, “We believe there is substantial evidence to support allegations of embezzlement in the complaint and Mantra Films intends to prosecute this suit vigorously. Mantra will also cooperate with any investigation launched by the Santa Monica Police Department in this matter.”
The full contents of the Mantra Films lawsuit can be viewed at mantraent.com/lawsuit
Contact:Lisa DuFort Mantra Films +1-310-566-1803 Lisa@Mantraent.com
Simian Gets An Evolutionary Boost For Collaboration, Reveals “Teams”
Simian, the showreel-building, review & approval, and production asset management platform used globally by creative leaders, is kicking off this fall season with a substantial leap forward for collaboration and project management – with more updates on the way during the holidays!
The new feature, aptly dubbed “Teams”, makes it easier than ever for users to give project responsibilities to team members and clients alike. “You can never have too many options when it comes to permission levels,” says Jay Brooks, Simian’s Chief Technology Officer. “Teams provides a streamlined way to assign multiple users to a project at once.”
“Teams are very powerful, but creating one is effortless,” Brian Atton, Simian’s Chief Operating Officer explains. “Simply enter a Team name, add members, and then apply the newly made Team to any desired project. You can even invite temporary guests without changing settings for other projects or needing to create a new Team.”
“We love helping our clients by providing efficient tools to improve their workflow, and this has been a frequently requested feature as of late,” shares Kellie Atton, Head of Sales at Simian. “It feels great to get Teams out into the wild because I know it’s going to be tremendously helpful to everyone who uses it”.
Teams is now available exclusively to Simian’s enterprise clients. Simian plans to release more product upgrades and enhancements during Q4 2024 and 2025 for enterprise and non-enterprise users, continuing its ongoing evolution as the industry’s leading production asset management solution.
For more information on Simian upgrades and features, visit https://www.gosimian.com/
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