NSYNC member, Lance Bass, is sitting down with ABC’s ’20/20,’ discussing how his former manager, Lou Pearlman, was found guilty of money laundering and more before his 2016 death.
Truths are coming to light on the Dec. 13 episode of ABC’s 20/20. Lance Bass, a member of the boy band NSYNC, sat down for the program to candidly talk about his former manager, Lou Pearlman, and how he was found guilty of conspiracy, money laundering and making false statements during a bankruptcy proceeding during the time he was managing NSYNC, The Backstreet Boys, and O-Town. Naturally Lance had a lot of conflicted feelings about Lou after his passing, saying in a clip, “I was so confused on exactly how to feel…I’m like, ‘How could you die right now when we don’t have this closure? You need to apologize.’” Before the show airs at 9 pm, here are five things you need to know about Lou Pearlman.
1) He was a major music manager in the 90’s. Lou started the company Trans Continental Records in the hopes of accruing the same kind of success that made New Kids On The Block famous. After a wide talent search, Lou signed five unknown young men and formed The Backstreet boys in 1993. Lou recreated this model and signed NSYNC soon after with both groups becoming two of the most successful boy bands ever.
2) Lou was sued by the groups he managed. Practically all of the musical acts that Lou represented sued him for misrepresentation and fraud in the mid-2000s. Not only did Lou have these accusations built against him, he also lead one of the biggest Ponzi schemes — or pyramid schemes — ever! While the artists he managed were victims of mismanagement and fraud — Lou pocketing a number of their earnings — Lou also swindled money from investors and banks for well over a hundred million dollars who put their money in Trans Continental Records.
3) Lou went to court for charges in 2006. While the individual cases brought up by the groups and artists he represented were mostly settled out of court, Lou was arraigned in 2006 for charges of money laundering, conspiracy and false statements. By 2007, investigators found that Trans Continental Records was a massive fraud and the state took possession of the company.
4) He was sentenced to 25 years in Florida prison. Lou plead guilty to the crimes he was convicted of and was sentenced to 25 years in prison.
5) He died in 2016. While serving his 25-year prison sentence, Lou died of cardiac arrest on August 19, 2016 at the age of 62 at the Florida Correctional Institution.
ABC’s episode of 20/20 airs Dec. 13 at 9 pm.
Sourse: hollywoodlife.com
