LOS ANGELES, CA — A scheduled sentencing hearing for the former head of a Hollywood production and distribution company who attempted to swindle the coronavirus-relief Paycheck Protection Program out of about $1.7 million was delayed Thursday until Tuesday.
William Sadleir, 68, pleaded guilty in March to one federal count each of bank fraud and money laundering.
Prosecutors said the Beverly Hills resident — the founder and former owner of Los Angeles-based Aviron Pictures — lied on applications seeking forgivable PPP loans guaranteed by the Small Business Administration under the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act.
Sadleir obtained three loans by falsely claiming the money would be used to support Aviron payroll expenses. The money was actually used for personal expenses, including payments on his and his wife’s credit cards.
Within days of the loans being funded, Sandleir transferred nearly $1 million to his personal checking account, according to papers filed in Los Angeles federal court.
As part of the plea deal, the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Los Angeles will recommend that whatever sentence is imposed should run concurrently with the six-year sentence handed down in New York last month for Sadleir’s participation in fraudulent investment schemes.
Sadleir pled guilty in New York in January to two counts of wire fraud, one relating to each of the schemes, for misappropriating more than $25 million that had been invested in Aviron.
Sadleir was the…
