The founder of media and entertainment company Ozy Media, Carlos Watson, has been sentenced to 116 months in prison for falsifying information about the company to lure investors.

Prosecutors noted the former TV host and banker had devised a scheme that cost investors losses worth “tens of millions of dollars.”

“Carlos Watson orchestrated a years-long, audacious scheme to defraud investors and lenders to his company,” said Breon Peace, US attorney for the Eastern District of New York.

“His incessant and deliberate lies demonstrated not only a brazen disregard for the rule of law but also a contempt for the values of honesty and fairness.”

However, Mr Watson denied the allegations, insisting he would appeal the verdict. 

He will remain free for now on a $3 million bond.

Mr Watson had in court argued that his efforts as a businessman were to ensure that his company succeeded, adding that he was betrayed by his deputies who had acted on their own volition and hid their wrongdoing from him.

Ozy Media officially closed down in 2021 after a New York Times investigation found that one of its executives impersonated a YouTube representative during a call with investment banking giant Goldman Sachs.

(NAN)