LOS ANGELES
David Raymond Brown, 39, a former Sherman Oaks resident now living in South Carolina, was arrested on a 21-count federal indictment accusing him of defrauding victims of more than $12 million through film industry scams and fake COVID-19 testing charges, officials announced Wednesday
Brown, also known as “David Brown Levy” and “David Addison Brown,” is charged with nine counts of wire fraud, 10 counts of money laundering, and two counts of aggravated identity theft.
He appeared in federal court in Columbia, S.C., and will be arraigned in Los Angeles. He is presumed innocent unless proven guilty.
Between 2021 and 2025, prosecutors allege that Brown misappropriated film production funds by billing projects for bogus testing through his company, Hollywood Covid Testing LLC.
He also lured investors with false promises: one (“Victim 1”) into a sham real estate venture, and another (“Victim 2”) into Film Holdings Capital, which he ran like a Ponzi scheme. Brown allegedly bolstered his credibility with a stolen IMDb profile and concealed lawsuits and accusations of fraud.
Instead of funding productions, he allegedly spent millions on luxury cars, a Mercedes-Benz G-Wagon, Teslas, a $99,000 pool, mortgage payments, a home for his mother, private school tuition, surrogacy services, and nearly $1 million tied to a Patricia Hearst film project.
If convicted, Brown faces up to 20 years in prison for each wire fraud count, 10 years for each money laundering count, and mandatory two-year terms for identity theft.
The FBI and IRS Criminal Investigation are leading the probe.