Scottsdale man sentenced to prison for role in $23.4 million music royalty fraud scheme
Jun 29, 2023, 4:15 AM
(Pexels Photo)
(Pexels Photo)
PHOENIX — A Scottsdale man was sentenced to 70 months in prison Monday for his role his part in one of the largest music royalty fraud schemes.
In February, 38-year-old Jose Teran, pleaded guilty to conspiracy, wire fraud and transactional money laundering.
Teran was indicted in November 2021 by a federal grand jury which charged him and his co-conspirator, Webster Bastista, with 30 felony counts, according to a press release.
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The charges include conspiracy, wire fraud, transactional money laundering and aggravated identity theft.
When he plead guilty, Teran admitted to conspiring with Basista to monetize music on YouTube, which he had no lawful rights to monetize or control. He also admitted that they created MediaMuv L.L.C. for the purpose of stealing royalty proceeds, the press release stated
The two defendants also claimed to own and stolen the royalty proceeds from more than 50,000 song titles
Teran and Bastita received approximately $23,400,000 from their fraudulent scheme.
Batista pleaded guilty to wire fraud in April 2022 and his sentencing is set for August 2023.
The case was investigated by the IRS.
