Harvey Weinstein's right-hand man and replacement, David Glasser, has ties to Genovese crime family

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Weinstein Co. President David Glasser Linked to Felon’s Money Laundering Case (EXCLUSIVE)

David Glasser has been Harvey Weinstein’s right-hand man for the better part of a decade. Now, after Weinstein’s spectacular downfall in a sex harassment scandal this week, Glasser has been put in charge of the mogul’s imploding entertainment company alongside Weinstein’s brother, Bob.

But Glasser, who serves as president and chief operating officer of the Weinstein Co., has long been dogged by legal issues that date back more than two decades. In the most serious case, Glasser’s former company was used to launder the proceeds of a massive stock manipulation scheme which, according to federal prosecutors, was connected to the Genovese crime family. The mastermind of the scheme, Roy Ageloff, pleaded guilty to securities fraud and was sentenced to eight years in prison. Ageloff also helped launch Glasser’s career as a producer, and even tried to produce a film with Glasser about his own life, to be titled “Sold Short.” Glasser was never charged with a crime.

Glasser’s legal problems have hindered his Hollywood career in the past. Two years ago, Glasser announced he would be leaving the Weinstein Co. to seek a “new opportunity.” A few weeks later, he reversed course and announced that he would stay on. According to sources familiar with the matter, Glasser was offered a top executive role at DreamWorks Animation. But after digging into his past, DreamWorks rescinded the offer. The sources say the board felt that Glasser’s legal troubles made it impossible for him to hold an executive job at a publicly traded company...

...The revelations come as the Weinstein Co.’s future is tettering on the brink of collapse. Industry insiders are speculating about the company’s ability to produce projects, a possible sale or bankruptcy filing, and whether Glasser and Bob Weinstein may be the next to depart. Glasser tells Variety that he has not yet accepted the board’s offer to run the company, and is still weighing whether to stay.

A former child actor, Glasser broke into the producing business in the mid-1990s. In 1997, his company, Cutting Edge Entertainment, produced a film entitled “Fait Accompli.” One of the actors was Ageloff, who played the role of “Murt.” According to federal court filings, Ageloff invested $3.5 million in Cutting Edge in 1997 and 1998. He would go on to have a half dozen minor roles in films, all but one of which were produced by Glasser.

By 1997, Ageloff was already infamous on Wall Street for running high-pressure boiler rooms that touted obscure stock offerings. Ageloff and his partner, Robert Catoggio, ran the brokerage firm of Hanover Sterling, which employed more than 100 brokers in offices in Manhattan and Boca Raton, Florida. In July 1996, Fortune called Hanover a “lowlife brokerage firm,” and noted that the FBI was looking into questionable IPOs. Ageloff and his associates were indicted in June 1999, and accused of swindling investors out of $150 million in a series of “pump and dump” schemes. Prosecutors alleged that Catoggio funneled millions of dollars in proceeds to a captain in the Genovese crime family, whose stepson was one of the brokers who pleaded guilty. Ageloff pleaded guilty in 2000 and was sent to a medium-security prison in Florida in 2001.

At some point, Ageloff came up with an idea for a movie called “Sold Short,” about his career in the brokerage business. He turned to Glasser to produce it. According to a deal memo dated January 2002 — that is, a few months after Ageloff entered prison — Glasser agreed to make the film with a budget between $10 to $25 million. Glasser would pay Ageloff a producer fee of $500,000 upon commencement of principal photography. The film was never made...

...“Years later we found out that he was being indicted for stock fraud on a old business that he had,” Glasser says. “Years later I was contacted by the team who prosecuted him, interviewed and they went through all my emails, correspondence and contracts. It was concluded that I had done nothing wrong other than got in business with the wrong guy and next time I should make sure I know where these investments are coming from. I was young and did nothing wrong here and in hindsight (I) learned a valuable lesson on vetting your investors.”

In September 2002, Glasser signed a note agreeing to pay $1.5 million by 2004 to the Ageloff Education Irrevocable Trust, which Ageloff set up to benefit his children. According to court records, Glasser put up 20% of his new company, Splendid Pictures, as collateral in the deal. A few months later, Glasser took a 20% equity stake in another company, a distributor named Syndicate Films International. Under a confidential agreement, he pledged to give Ageloff half of his proceeds from his stake in the company. The Ageloff trust later filed a federal suit against Glasser, alleging that he failed to pay the debt when it came due. Glasser did not contest the lawsuit, and a default judgment was entered in the amount of $1,622,821.

In 2008, shortly before Ageloff was to be released, federal prosecutors in Florida brought another case against him, alleging that he had hidden assets from the government and laundered money. The indictment does not name Glasser, but it does reference the $3.5 million investment of tainted money into “various movie productions” in 1997 and 1998.

Ageloff pleaded guilty to money laundering and was sentenced to an additional five years behind bars. According to the plea agreement, his brother, Michael, received $160,000 in “movie money” in August 2002 from “an unindicted co-conspirator,” who is not named. The plea also states that Michael Ageloff received a $500,000 payout in 2003 from the sale of Cutting Edge Entertainment. He received two checks, in the amounts of $300,000 and $200,000, which the government alleged was part of the money laundering scheme.

Ageloff’s attorney, Daniel Brodersen, addressed the $3.5 million in movie investments in a pre-sentencing memorandum, arguing that New York prosecutors were aware of it when Ageloff entered his original plea in 2000. “Not all of the monies that the Defendant invested constituted illegal proceeds,” Brodersen wrote. “Furthermore, this investment and the Defendant’s corresponding interest in Cutting Edge Entertainment was fully disclosed to the court, the probation office, and the prosecution in the Eastern District of New York.”

“There has never been any attempt on the part of the Defendant to conceal these monies, his interest in Cutting Edge Entertainment, and the fact that he was defrauded by David C. Glasser, with whom he invested those funds in 1997,” Brodersen wrote.

Under the plea deal, Ageloff forfeited the $1.6 million judgment to the U.S. government.

“The United States was able to identify funds that flowed from that Ageloff trust account to Glasser,” says Dan Eckhart, the former federal prosecutor who handled the case. “Ageloff admitted the trust contained proceeds from his criminal activity in his plea agreement, and we were able to forfeit those assets.”...

...“Years later we found out that he was being indicted for stock fraud on a old business that he had,” Glasser says. “Years later I was contacted by the team who prosecuted him, interviewed and they went through all my emails, correspondence and contracts. It was concluded that I had done nothing wrong other than got in business with the wrong guy and next time I should make sure I know where these investments are coming from. I was young and did nothing wrong here and in hindsight (I) learned a valuable lesson on vetting your investors.”

In September 2002, Glasser signed a note agreeing to pay $1.5 million by 2004 to the Ageloff Education Irrevocable Trust, which Ageloff set up to benefit his children. According to court records, Glasser put up 20% of his new company, Splendid Pictures, as collateral in the deal. A few months later, Glasser took a 20% equity stake in another company, a distributor named Syndicate Films International. Under a confidential agreement, he pledged to give Ageloff half of his proceeds from his stake in the company. The Ageloff trust later filed a federal suit against Glasser, alleging that he failed to pay the debt when it came due. Glasser did not contest the lawsuit, and a default judgment was entered in the amount of $1,622,821.

In 2008, shortly before Ageloff was to be released, federal prosecutors in Florida brought another case against him, alleging that he had hidden assets from the government and laundered money. The indictment does not name Glasser, but it does reference the $3.5 million investment of tainted money into “various movie productions” in 1997 and 1998.

Ageloff pleaded guilty to money laundering and was sentenced to an additional five years behind bars. According to the plea agreement, his brother, Michael, received $160,000 in “movie money” in August 2002 from “an unindicted co-conspirator,” who is not named. The plea also states that Michael Ageloff received a $500,000 payout in 2003 from the sale of Cutting Edge Entertainment. He received two checks, in the amounts of $300,000 and $200,000, which the government alleged was part of the money laundering scheme.

Ageloff’s attorney, Daniel Brodersen, addressed the $3.5 million in movie investments in a pre-sentencing memorandum, arguing that New York prosecutors were aware of it when Ageloff entered his original plea in 2000. “Not all of the monies that the Defendant invested constituted illegal proceeds,” Brodersen wrote. “Furthermore, this investment and the Defendant’s corresponding interest in Cutting Edge Entertainment was fully disclosed to the court, the probation office, and the prosecution in the Eastern District of New York.”

“There has never been any attempt on the part of the Defendant to conceal these monies, his interest in Cutting Edge Entertainment, and the fact that he was defrauded by David C. Glasser, with whom he invested those funds in 1997,” Brodersen wrote.

Under the plea deal, Ageloff forfeited the $1.6 million judgment to the U.S. government.

“The United States was able to identify funds that flowed from that Ageloff trust account to Glasser,” says Dan Eckhart, the former federal prosecutor who handled the case. “Ageloff admitted the trust contained proceeds from his criminal activity in his plea agreement, and we were able to forfeit those assets.”...

Watching the left implode under its own corruption is more entertaining than any Oscar-bait schlock film.