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A former boy band mogul has pleaded guilty to an audacious fraud that used fake accountants, fake bank accounts and a dead man's signature to swindle banks and investors out of more than US$300 million ($381 million).
Lou Pearlman, known for launching the Backstreet Boys an 'N Sync, took a plea deal in a US court in Orlando on two counts of conspiracy involving bank and investor fraud, one of money laundering and one of making false claims in a bankruptcy.
"I'm accepting full responsibility," Pearlman, 53, told US District Judge G. Kendall Sharp. He will be sentenced on May 21.
The charges carry a maximum prison term of 25 years and a US$1 million fine, but the deal offers Pearlman the possibility of a reduced sentence in exchange for full co-operation in recovering money to repay investors.
