Production of a right-wing blogger’s Confederacy-themed superhero movie is no more, taking $1 million of investors’ money with it.
Theodore Beale, a far-right blogger known as “Vox Day,” admitted in a video posted last week that funding had vaporized for “Rebel’s Run,” the flick based on an independent comic book character he created, The Daily Beast reported.
A trailer promoting the planned film” features a female character, Rebel, wearing a Confederate-flag inspired bustier while fighting a “global crackdown on hate,” and a “different kind of war.” It includes clips of an interview with writer Chuck Dixon, who worked on the “Batman” series and created “Bane,” and with producer Daniel McNicol, who has a handful of writing and production credits to his name.
Right-wing director Scooter Downey, who helmed a Tucker Carlson-backed “documentary” on the Jan. 6, 2021 riot in the U.S. Capitol, was to direct.
The project’s supporters quickly surpassed a $750,000 fundraising goal in 2019, ultimately contributing $1 million toward the movie, The Daily Beast reported. The money was supposed to be held in escrow as the producers sought additional backing.
But now the cash is gone, along with the plans for the movie.
“I wouldn’t count on us getting the money back,” Beale said in a subscription-only video.
Beale has previously written and created several videos and “documentaries,” with titles like “Social Justice Warriors Always Lie.” He also created a video game, “Rebel Moon Rising,” and produced a series called “Vodday Darkstream,” according to IMDB.
He has a long history of extreme views, including affiliating himself with the Gamergate movement, opposing women voting and claims that certain races are more likely to commit violence, The Daily Beast reported.
Beale’s background makes it unlikely he could secure traditional funding for a film, so he turned to Utah-based Ohana Capital Financial, which marketed itself with the slogan, “Banking the Unbankable.”
The report said he transferred $1 million to Ohana on Nov. 5, 2020, to be held in escrow.
But the founder of Ohana Capital, self-proclaimed crypto billionaire James Wolfgramm, 43, was a con artist who faked his wealth by doing things like lifting photos of pricey cars from the Internet and cryptocurrency wallets holding millions of dollars to share on his Instagram feed.
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In a federal indictment on Sept. 22, prosecutors said that Wolfgramm’s business also sold what were billed as high-tech cryptocurrency mining rigs that were in fact a hoax, with their screens just running on a loop to create the illusion of mine. He also made a fraudulent deal to purchase a commercial complex in Utah for $15 million in 2021, and took possession without paying for it or paying the utilities or other expenses for the occupied property.
Beale and his backers did not know that Wolfgramm was $4 million in debt to another client, who had paid him $4 million to fund a Chinese manufacturer of personal protective equipment in September 2020, months into the pandemic, The Daily Beast reported. Prosecutors charged that Wolfgramm spent the money on his own unrelated business issues.
“OCF received millions of dollars from customers who believed their money would be kept on deposit until the customers directed the release of their funds,” the U.S. Attorney for the District of Utah said in a release. “Instead, Wolfgramm and OCF spent these funds on unrelated business expenses, including in one instance, providing a refund to a prior, unrelated depositor.”
Beale’s video claimed that became suspicious and contacted the FBI, sparking the investigation into Wolfgramm, the Daily Beast reported. The impetus for the probe could not be independently confirmed.
Wolfgramm faces seven federal felony counts in connection with multiple financial fraud schemes, including five counts of wire fraud and two counts of money laundering.
In his video, Beale said he’s given up on the movie and claims, without evidence, that the alleged con was carried out to disrupt his right-wing fanbase, The Daily Beast reported.
“I strongly suspect that this whole thing was a targeted operation intended to break our community,” Beale said in the video.
