‘In the Heart of the Sea’ Producer Faces Charges in $26 Million Fraud Case

David Bergstein is accused of concealing information from investors and misappropriating funds

Warner Bros.

A Hollywood film producer and financier has been arrested as part of a $26 million fraud case.

David Bergstein, who produced films like Ron Howard’s “In the Heart of the Sea” and Sidney Lumet’s “Before the Devil Knows Your Dead,” was arrested at his California home on Wednesday, Reuters reported.

Bergstein also serves as chief executive of the private equity firm Cyrano Group Inc. It is alleged that he and Keith Wellner, former general counsel of Weston Capital Asset Management, perpetrated a scheme to conceal information from Weston investors, as well as transferring money from one pool of investors to make payments to another.

They are also accused of misappropriating investors’ funds for their own personal financial gain. The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, in a related civil suit, claim Bergstein took over $5.8 million to support his “extravagant lifestyle.”

Bergstein was previously the head of film production companies ThinkFilm and Capitol Films Development. He also held an advisory role in the Walt Disney Company’s 2010 sale of Miramax.

Other films Bergstein produced include “The Whole Ten Yards” with Bruce Willis and Matthew Perry, “Laws of Attraction” with Julianne Moore and Pierce Brosnan, and “Father of Invention” with Kevin Spacey and John Stamos.

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