OAKLAND, Calif., Aug. 7 (UPI) -- A California man was charged Thursday with bilking investors of $3.3 million while posing as an Oscar-winning designer of sound effects.
Brice Carrington, 46, appeared in U.S. District Court in Oakland, the Contra Costa Times reported. Federal prosecutors said Carrington, claiming to have won three Academy Awards for sound effects, convinced investors to put money into sound design projects.
He allegedly used a fake Oscar statuette, created by a jeweler in Walnut Creek, as window-dressing and said he had worked on movies like "Jurassic Park" and "The Lion King."
In addition to charges of cheating investors of $3.3 million, Carrington faces tax evasion charges.
Investigators say Carrington used some of the proceeds of his crimes to buy a 2003 Lamborghini Murcielago, a 2005 Hummer H2 and a 2006 Mercedes SL500R, with a combined value of almost $500,000, the San Francisco Chronicle reported. Prosecutors are seeking forfeiture of the cars.
