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Failed Savannah film studio project executives-charged-with-fraud
Sep 26, 2016, 2:21pm EDT Updated Sep 26, 2016, 2:25pm EDT


Ellie Hensley
Staff Writer
Atlanta Business Chronicle

Three executives of Moon River Studios, the failed film studio complex outside Savannah, Ga., are in trouble with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission for allegedly defrauding investors.

On Sept. 23, the SEC charged Manu Kumaran, the founder and former chairman and CEO of Medient Studios (later Moon River Studios), his successor Jake Shapiro and Roger Miguel, the CEO of Moon River's parent company Fonu2, with allegedly backdating and falsifying documents in an attempt to secure financing for the project.

Three executives of Moon River Studios, the failed film studio complex outside Savannah, Ga., are in trouble with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission for allegedly defrauding investors.
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Three executives of Moon River Studios, the failed film studio complex outside Savannah,… more

MOON RIVER STUDIOS

Moon River Studios was originally slated to be a 1,560-acre studio complex in Effingham County with sound stages, an outdoor concert venue, post production offices and more. It would have been the largest studio project in the United States, but work never began on it.

Its master plan was approved by Effingham commissioners, it received permits and awarded a construction contract, but then it hit a brick wall. It did not meet the expectations of the Effingham County Industrial Development Authority, and in October 2015, the project was scaled down to 51 acres.

Moon River signed on to produce a James Brown documentary, but no project ever materialized, according to the SEC. Instead, it alleges Kumaran spent an average of $1,700 of investors' money a day on "globetrotting travel and personal expenses... after claiming publicly he did not draw a salary and assuring stakeholders that all funds were being used to benefit the company."

Shapiro allegedly spent company money on a nearly $1 million house.

Litigation continues for Kumaran and Shapiro. Miguel agreed to settle the charges without admitting guilt or denying the allegations. He is barred from participating in penny stock offerings and serving as a public company officer or director for five years. The court has not yet determined monetary sanctions, and the settlement is subject to its approval.

Three Moon River board members who allegedly did not participate in the fraud were separately charged with violating federal securities laws by failing to report stock transactions in a timely fashion. Former New York Democratic Gov. David A. Paterson and music producer Charles A. Koppelman will pay $25,000 each in penalties. Administrative proceedings are underway for Matthew T. Mellon II, former chairman of the New York Republican Party Finance Committee.

http://www.bizjournals.com/atlanta/news/2016/09/26/failed-film-studio-project-executives-charged-with.html