HOTT WATER:
Mark Hotton, who lives in this Long Island mansion, is charged in federal court yesterday for allegedly producing phantom backers for “Rebecca. (Victor Alcorn)
(Shirley Shepard)
HOTT WATER: Mark Hotton (left), who lives in this Long Island mansion, is charged in federal court yesterday for allegedly producing phantom backers for “Rebecca.” (
)
The feds brought down the curtain yesterday on an elaborate scam that derailed the planned $14 million Broadway production of “Rebecca: The Musical.”
Accused con man Mark Hotton was ordered held without bail after prosecutors said he’s been staging schemes both on and off the Great White Way — and even tried to run down one victim with his car.
The alleged frauds fueled a lavish lifestyle that included a swanky waterfront home in West Islip, LI, and a 50-foot-yacht — christened the Hott Catch — that Hotton used to ferry stolen money to the Cayman Islands, according to court papers.
Hotton, 46, is accused of concocting a colorful cast of characters to dupe “Rebecca’s” producers into paying him more than $60,000 in fees and commissions to help finance the troubled production.
The musical, based on a 1938 mystery novel by Daphne du Maurier, had successful runs in Europe during the past six years.
But plans for a big-budget Broadway debut were jeopardized when lead producer Ben Sprecher came up about $4 million short of funding in January.
After “looking for new ways to raise money,” the show’s production company cut a lucrative, performance-based deal to arrange financing through Hotton’s TM Consulting company, according to authorities.
Over the next several months, Hotton allegedly claimed to have lined up four overseas investors willing to pour $4.5 million into the show, prompting the hiring of a cast and crew ahead of a planned opening at the Broadhurst Theatre next month.
A Manhattan federal court complaint says Hotton kept up his well-acted scheme by creating phony e-mail addresses and crooked Web sites connected to the phantom backers.
But when he couldn’t come up with the promised dough ahead of a July 31 deadline, Hotton orchestrated the dramatic “death” of purported wealthy Australian and lead investor “Paul Abrams” from a case of malaria contracted during a trip to Africa, the feds allege.
Hotton then allegedly staged Act Two of his fraud by claiming he would put up his own property and brokerage account as collateral for a $1.1 million.
But the feds say that, too, was a scam, with Hotton again fabricating e-mail correspondence, along with a phony lender, SPS Equity, and employees “Gus” and “Robert Phillips.”
”A convincing portrayal on stage can earn you a Tony,” said acting Assistant Director-in-Charge Mary Galligan of the FBI’s New York Office.
”A convincing act that fleeces a production’s backers can earn you a prison term.”
Authorities say Hotton also mounted two other, off-Broadway scams.
In one, he allegedly used the same characters from the “Rebecca” fraud to swindle more than $550,000 from a Connecticut real-estate developer.
A Long Island federal court indictment also charges Hotton, his wife, Sherri, and four others of using three electrical-contracting companies to fraudulently sell more than $3.7 million against $9.8 million in phony accounts receivable.
A lawyer for “Rebecca” producer Sprecher said he “remains totally committed to bringing ‘Rebecca’ to Broadway.”
A veteran Broadway producer questioned how Sprecher could have been “so foolish,” with another theater source noting reports that Hotton has been embroiled in a series of legal battles over alleged frauds since the late 1990s.
”All you had to do was Google the guy,” the source said.
Michaeline Valenti, 46, — a neighbor who claims Hotton defrauded her and her husband in a real-estate deal — told The Post she was the victim prosecutors said Hotton tried to hit with his car on Saturday.
Additional reporting by Mitchel Maddux and Julia Marsh