Alleged Scammers Charged With Cheating Investors Out of Millions for Fake Nic Cage Movie

Three men were arrested for allegedly scamming investors out of millions by convincing them to bankroll movies starring Nicolas Cage and others.

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Using our lord and savior Nicolas Cage's name in vain? Blasphemy. But that's exactly what three alleged con artists are accused of doing, to the final tune of more than $12 million. Three men were arrested Tuesday on charges of scamming investors into dumping money into nonexistent film projects, the New York Daily Newsreports.

"With lies about making feature-length films and documentaries, the defendants allegedly defrauded victims into investing over $12 million with them," Manhattan U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara said in a press release Tuesday. "Rather than making movies, the defendants perpetrated an advance fee scheme, allegedly using the investors' money to pay themselves and pay other investors back."

Though specific fake projects aren't mentioned in the Justice Department’s press release, the Daily News cites a previous civil suit against the men that claimed investors were told the money would go toward movies starring Nicolas Cage, Willie Nelson, and others. In a perfect world, Nic and Willie would star in a real movie together centered on fire-ass weed's ability to reverse the apparently impending Christian rapture.

James David Williams, Steven Brown, and Gerald Seppala are accused of operating an "advance fee scheme" between 2012 and June of this year. According to Bharara, the men presented themselves as "experts in the marketing of feature-length films and documentaries" despite the fact that their promises of "guaranteed returns" never actually came to fruition.

Williams and Brown have been charged with one count each of conspiring to commit wire fraud, one count of wire fraud, and one count of conspiring to commit money laundering. Seppala is charged with one count of wire fraud and one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud. According to the release, the men potentially face up to 20 years in prison.

The strangest part of all this? People actually believed that investing in an as-yet-unconfirmed Left Behind 3 was a good idea, according to the New York Post.

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