Ozy Media Chief Executive Carlos Watson was arrested Thursday morning after a former executive with whom he founded the embattled startup pleaded guilty to fraud charges in a secretive federal court proceeding.
Mr. Watson was taken into custody and is expected to be arraigned in a Brooklyn, N.Y., federal court on charges of conspiring to commit securities fraud and conspiring to commit wire fraud, according to a law-enforcement official. Ozy came under federal scrutiny for its business practices after the New York Times reported in 2021 that its then-chief operating officer, Samir Rao, impersonated an executive of Alphabet Inc.’s YouTube during a fundraising call with Goldman Sachs Group Inc. …
Another former Ozy official pleaded guilty on Feb. 14 to fraud conspiracy charges. Suzee Han, the company’s former chief of staff, told a magistrate judge that she falsified financial information about the company at the direction of two executives. She didn’t identify the executives. Ms. Han was also allowed to enter her plea as a Jane Doe.
[The Doe use and the seal on their indictments and pleas strongly signal that the pair are cooperating in a prosecution of Watson, a former anchor for MSNBC and CNN. Stay tuned. — Ed]
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