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LA Filmmaker Charged With Movie Tax Credit Fraud In Massachusetts

By THE DEADLINE TEAM | Friday December 9, 2011 @ 9:14pm PSTTags: Fraud

News reports say writer-director Daniel Adams was arraigned today with defrauding Massachusetts of about $5 million in inflated tax credits he obtained for The Golden Boys and The Lightkeepers. Adams appeared this morning in Boston Municipal Court and ordered held on $100,000 bail. He was arrested Thursday and charged quickly because authorities want to keep him from flying back to Los Angeles. His attorney said officials had rushed to judgement. Production companies are eligible for a 25% tax credit for payroll and filmmaking expenses incurred in Massachusetts. Prosecutors allege Los Angeles-based Adams intentionally inflated expenses when completing forms for the tax credit and the state overpaaid some $4.7 million to his production companies. One of Adams’ alleged false claims was paying Richard Dreyfuss $2.5 million for The Lightkeepers when the actor’s actual fee was $400,000. Maximum penalty if convicted is five years in prison. Both movies were written and directed by Adams and set in the early 20th century along the Cape Cod coast. The Golden Boys (2008) starred David Carradine, Rip Torn and Bruce Dern. The Lightkeepers (2009) starred Dreyfuss, Julie Harris, and Blythe Danner. Adams was most recently attached to direct The Big Valley, based on the TV series that starred Barbara Stanwyck.

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Lawsuit: ‘Hangover II’ Stole Groom’s Story

By THE DEADLINE TEAM | Monday October 17, 2011 @ 6:17pm PDTTags: Criminal Copyright Infringement, Fraud, Lawsuit, The Hangover II

The Hangover Part II is beginning to seem like a litigation magnet. The latest lawsuit was filed last week in federal court in Los Angeles according to Entertainment Weekly. It alleges that filmmakers mimicked a script that aspiring scribe … Read More »

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