FX.co ★ Californians sold investors on Hollywood dream

A return of favorite childhood heroes to wide screen is always a sensation. So, it is doubly disappointing when expectations turn out to be deceived. However, that was an exactly situation Jean-Claude Van Damme’s fans had got into. A group of swindlers scammed around $2 million to fund film project with Van Damme he never was approached about. The story began in sunny California where three pals, in order to earn money for old rope, announced a large-scale campaign to raise funds for a yet-to-be-made movie with Van Damme. About 60 investors and ordinary locals responded eagerly and invested their own money in the project that turned out to be a con. Apart from Van Damme, the swindlers also promised to feature Donald Sutherland. Nevertheless, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) got interested in this project and shortly after filed a civil suit. Three men – Samuel Barslau, a lawyer from Los Angeles, Stuart Rawitt, and Rand Jay Chortkoff – are accused of taking millions with phony investment scams. To commit a fraud, the partners established the Mutual Entertainment corporation, later renamed Film Shoot. To make things more complicated, they acquired the rights to Marcel novel for $25,000 in 2011. The movie script was based on the book written during World War II. Thus, the hustlers could raise a total of $1.8 million for the film that was first titled Marcel and later changed to The Smuggler. Meanwhile, that movie was never made.