SEC Charges Owner of Film Distribution Company with Defrauding Publicly Traded Fund

The Securities and Exchange Commission today announced charges against William Sadleir, the owner of a film distribution company, for defrauding a publicly traded fund of at least $13.8 million. The SEC alleges that BlackRock Multi-Sector Income Trust (BIT), a registered closed-end management investment company, invested approximately $75 million in Aviron Group LLC, a film distribution company founded, owned, and operated by Sadleir. The complaint alleges that Sadleir represented that the investments would be used to support the company’s distribution of films. Contrary to these representations, Sadleir allegedly used a sham company as a vehicle to fraudulently divert and misappropriate BIT funds and issued fake invoices seeking BIT funds for services that were never provided.