A lender known as the “bank to the stars” is being sued for $770 million for allegedly aiding and abetting a Hollywood Ponzi scheme.
Plaintiffs for the lawsuit accuse the Los Angeles-based lender City National Bank (CNB) of enabling a fraudulent scheme that bilked hundreds of investors, reports the Los Angeles Times.
The lawsuit alleges CNB provided millions of dollars in loans to Zachary Horwitz, the mastermind of a film-licensing scheme that fleeced more than $690 million from friends, family and other investors.
In February, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) announced Horwitz had been convicted of violating multiple securities laws for duping victims with claims that investors would see more than 35% returns from his business of selling movie rights to Netflix and HBO. But in reality, Horwitz never sold any movie rights to the streaming services and used the money to fund his luxurious lifestyle and satisfy earlier investors.
The lawsuit claims that between 2013 and 2019, the lender processed $1 billion in transactions for Hortwitz, issued $64.2 million in loans and gave him 456 credit extensions.
The bank also allegedly ignored “glaring red flags” and “bent the rules” for Horwitz throughout the years while substantially assisting him by “adding an air of legitimacy” to his Ponzi scheme. According to the lawsuit, City National Bank knew that Horwitz bragged about his relationship with the lender in the documents he shared with investors.
The plaintiffs are asking the court to order CNB to pay $770 million to victims of Horwitz’s scheme.
A spokesperson at the lender says the bank won’t comment on ongoing litigation.
City National Bank has more than $93.72 billion in assets with 70 locations across eight states.
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