Costa Mesa man charged by FBI
A Costa Mesa man was one of four people the FBI charged on Friday
with multiple counts of mail fraud and money laundering that involved
800 victims across the country, officials said.
James S. Eberhart, 61, was named in the indictment along with
Eugene M. Carriere, 53, of Sunset Beach, Richard Hines, 57, of San
Pedro, and Kenneth Gottlieb, 59, of Los Angeles, according to the
indictment.
Eberhart and Carriere were co-founders of the now defunct YES
Entertainment Network Inc. in Newport Beach. Officials said they
believe both men have fled the country and are considered fugitives.
The indictment concluded a three-year federal investigation.
Officials said Carriere and Eberhart provided sales scripts and
selling instructions to telemarketers at sales offices known as
telemarketing "boiler rooms" to solicit potential investors for YES
Entertainment.
Potential investors were then sent promotional materials claiming
that the company was established for creating and maintaining an
18-channel, multimedia, family-oriented Web site to begin operating
by fall of 1999. They promised investors that the returns would come
from advertising sales, officials said.
Between February and October of 1999, the defendants raised more
than $11 million from investors, some who gave up to $100,000, and
used most of it for personal benefit, they alleged. Carriere and
Eberhart transferred nearly $3.9 million of investor funds from the
company's bank accounts in Hong Kong and Singapore, officials said.
