Former CNN and MSNBC host Carlos Watson could spend decades in prison.
The Ozy Media founder was convicted of fraud by a federal jury in Brooklyn on Tuesday, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of New York said in a July 16 news release.
“The jury found that Watson was a con man who told lie upon lie upon lie to deceive investors into buying stock in his company,” U.S. Attorney Breon Peace said in a statement after the verdict was read. “Watson invented phony financial figures and caused others to forge fake contracts and impersonate a media executive.”
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Prosecutors said Watson, 54, conspired to deceive investors and lenders as part of a scheme to raise tens of millions of dollars in hopes of keeping his struggling media company afloat.
Watson pleaded not guilty and denied the allegations.
Still, the jury convicted him on three counts — conspiracy to commit securities fraud, conspiracy to commit wire fraud, and aggravated identity theft.
Watson launched Ozy Media as a digital magazine and daily newsletter in 2013. The now-defunct company was touted as “a modern media company producing original TV series podcasts, festivals and news for curious people.”
A former investment banker who pivoted to cable news, Watson used his connections to bring attention to Ozy.
According to published reports, the company secured more than $83 million in funding thanks to Watson’s name and what was viewed as Ozy’s massive digital success. Part of the company’s appeal was a claim that it garnered 50 million monthly unique users on its website.
But in 2017, BuzzFeed News reported a lot of that traffic was “fraudulent” and had been “purchased.”
Still, Watson continued to impress Hollywood players. He branched out into television and signed production deals with A&E Networks, OWN, Hulu, Amazon Prime and PBS.
In 2019, he began hosting and co-producing a series of “Spotlight” specials for OWN on issues affecting Black women.
He also teamed up with A&E’s Lifetime to produce issue-oriented films, including the 2021 immigration drama Torn From Her Arms.
On Sept. 26, 2021, the New York Times published an article saying Ozy’s co-founder and COO Samir Rao impersonated a YouTube executive on a conference call with Goldman Sachs, while attempting to raise $40 million from the investment bank. The paper also reported Ozy exaggerated the views it was getting on YouTube.
Ozy shut down days after the story went to print.
Once the Justice Department began investigating the company, federal prosecutors said Watson, Rao and former chief of staff Suzee Han misrepresented Ozy’s financial performance and lied about business relationships with celebrities.
Rao and Han took deals and pleaded guilty after they were charged for their roles in the scheme. The two are currently awaiting sentencing, prosecutors said Tuesday.
A sentencing date will be announced later for Watson. He faces a minimum sentence of two years and a maximum sentence of 37 years in federal prison. He was taken into custody pending his sentencing.
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