The Apprentice
Movie producer behind Trump biopic faces 300 years in prison for alleged scams of his own
This Week In Blunders – Aug. 24-30
“Hollywood is largely about scammers and con men.” - Ben Stein
The feds arrested a Hollywood producer on Wednesday alleging $12 million worth of hinkey stunts that included charging film production companies for Covid 19 testing that never happened.
David Raymond Brown, 39, produced “The Apprentice,” detailing the exploits of a young Donald Trump in the real estate business. The 2024 film staring Sebastian Stan and Jeremy Strong naturally drew MAGA blowback when it debuted in Cannes and didn’t become a box office sensation.
He also produced the 2021 film “The Fallout,” staring Jennifer Ortega, about a high-school student dealing with emotional trauma after a school shooting.
Brown had his hands in the Hollywood till as a producer, unit production manager, and production accountant. According to the indictment, he transferred money from film production companies to his own account. He also allegedly set up a Studio City-based outfit called Hollywood Covid Testing that plied customers with false or duplicative invoices for tests that were never rendered.
He is also accused of duping investors in … eh, hem … real estate deals.
Brown, who has also been known as “David Brown Levy” and “David Addison Brown,” formerly lived in Sherman Oaks, Calif., but moved to West Columbia, S.C. where he was arrested.
He’s been charged with 21 counts: Nine for wire fraud, 10 for transactional money laundering, and two for aggravated identity theft.
Using Justice Department math, this could mean centuries in prison time if convicted on all counts.
You can bet he won’t be receiving a Trump pardon … unless, of course, he promises a flattering sequel about a convicted white-collar felon who tried to Make America Great Again.
You’re Fired! … No, I’m Not.
You can’t just accuse someone of fraud in a tweet, providing zero evidence for the claim, and then fire them – unless, of course, you are President Donald Trump.
Trump’s latest move to take over the long-independent Federal Reserve involves accusing Fed Governor Lisa Cook of mortgage fraud and firing her for it on Monday.
Cook responded by not going anywhere and filing a lawsuit. On Friday, a judge heard two hours of arguments on Cook’s temporary restraining order to prevent the firing and made no ruling. So it’s all up in the air for now.
The charges against Cook may be difficult to prove. But if Trump gets rid of Cook, he will have stacked the Fed with enough of his own nominees to possibly seize more control than pursuing his previous threat to fire Fed Chairman Jerome Powell.
Trump is demanding lower interest rates, but the Fed’s fight against inflation is hardly over. In fact, the Fed’s favorite inflation gauge clocked in higher on Friday. As Powell has warned, if the Fed lowers interest rates too soon, inflation can go surging right back to where it was.
Fed decisions should be immune from the short-term whims of politicians. But why not just leave it for Trump to decide? His businesses have only filed bankruptcy six times.
Inject Washington politics into Fed decisions – no matter whose politics – and you’ve got a recipe for economic disaster.
Surgeon Style
This week, we’re adding Kimberly-Clark Corp. to the Business Blunders list of Criminally Charged Corporations.
The consumer goods and personal care giant agreed to pay $40 million as part of a deferred prosecution agreement, the U.S. Department of Justice announced on Thursday.
The company is accused of “introducing adulterated surgical gowns into interstate commerce with an intent to defraud and mislead,” the Justice Department said.
Essentially, Kimberly-Clark skirted strict Food and Drug Administration standards for its “MicroCool” gowns used in high-risk medical procedures and sold about $49 million worth in the U.S. and abroad for a handy profit.
Next time you’re going under the knife, ask your surgical team what they’re wearing. Fashion matters.
What Not To Do In Business
The original name for Business Blunders was “What Not To Do In Business,” but whatnottodoinbiz.com is a cumbersome URL.
The point is not just to gawk at the horrific train wrecks of Corporate America, but to learn from them so they don’t happen again. Of course, we love gawking, too, and businessblunders.com works better as a URL.
The week Business Blunders launched a free compendium, “The Biggest Business Blunders Of All Time,” memorializing the greatest debacles of our times and the lessons that should have been learned from them. It’s part of the growing archive of Blunder Lists tracking the biggest mistakes in business in the slim hope that they will stop repeating themselves.
Unfortunately, business people have short memories and the follies never end.
Business Blunders is definitely not in any danger of running out of fresh material any time soon.
Don’t Miss These Blunders
The Biggest Business Blunders Of All Time And the costly lessons they left behind.
Timeshare Prison This week In Blunders – Aug. 17-23
Instant Ponzi – Just Add Water This Week In Blunders – Aug. 10-16
Doing That Shuffle A former JPMorgan Chase and Goldman Sachs executive raised $4.3 million to start a blockchain gambling app. Then he allegedly blew his seed money in another online casino.
Kwon Don’t Terraform Labs founder Do Kwon never planned on failure. Now he's headed to prison after pleading guilty to a $40 billion crypto fraud.
Sub Moron This Week In Blunders – Aug. 3-9
Near Intelligence On Epstein Island This company tagged everyone who came and went to the infamous pedophile paradise. Now, its top executives are charged in an unrelated accounting fraud.
Stop Counting! Stop Counting! This Week In Blunders – 27- Aug. 2
The Gods Or Money? A new book, "The Almightier," pulls back the temple curtains and reveals what mankind really worships
Break It ‘Til You Make It Big money investors fell prey to a fashion industry fairy tale
Making A List, Checking It Twice The '30 Under 30 Curse' is an enduring embarrassment for business news publications
The Empress’s New Clothes Big money investors fell prey to a fashion industry fairy tale
Just Smile And Wave This Week In Blunders – July 13-19
Make The Competition Disappear A bid-rigging indictment calls foul on Tim Leiweke, a long-respected sports arena developer
Better To Be An Ex-CEO Than An X CEO This Week In Blunders – July 6-12
Slipping Away From Prosecutors The Volkswagen CEO who lorded over "Dieselgate" defers consequences with a happy accident
15 Tales Of Lost Ponzi Riches Swindlers can steal billions because investors won't learn from history. Here's a ranking of America's top Ponzi schemers.
Hello, I Love You This Week In Blunders – June 22-28
Milk It Like Milken Terren Peizer ratted out the junk bond king in the 1980s. Now he's headed to prison for insider trading.
Hey, Pig. The Feds Found Your Crypto This Week In Blunders - June 15 - 21
The Outrageous Acts Of Criminally Charged Corporations How crooked is Big Business? Check out the rap sheet