Listen to this articleA Roslyn Heights man, who produces the TV show “Safehaven,” has agreed to plead guilty to a federal criminal charge for embezzling approximately $214,000 from a television production company, officials said.
In a plea agreement filed Tuesday, David Ozer the president of a North Carolina-based entertainment production company, agreed to plead guilty to the felony offense, according to Martin Estrada, the U.S. Attorney for the Central District of California.
Ozer is a producer and the president of Strong Studios, a production company based in Charlotte, North Carolina. He is also the producer of “Safehaven,” a supernatural thriller TV series that is based on a graphic novel by David Seale.
According to the plea agreement, Ozer defrauded Ravenwood-Productions, the principal financial backer of “Safehaven,” by misappropriating approximately $214,486 in production funds from bank accounts for the production.
To create the false appearance that the funds he embezzled were spent on legitimate production costs, Ozer allegedly created fraudulent accounting records, including falsified invoices, and forged a letter purportedly from his accountant. But federal officials say Ozer’s accountant did not write the letter. They also alleged that the contents of the letter were false, and Ozer used his accountant’s name without his accountant’s authorization.
Ozer allegedly provided these falsified documents to a lawyer for Strong Studios and caused him to transmit them in an email on January 3, 2024, to an attorney for Ravenwood-Productions.
The FBI is investigating the case, officials said.
Ozer, who faces as much as 20 years in prison, is next expected to make his initial appearance in U.S. District Court in Los Angeles.