NewsFormer Theatre Agent Pleads Guilty to FraudRoland Scahill admitted to tricking investors to put money into a non-existent production about the life of Kathleen Battle.
By
Andrew Gans
April 27, 2017
Roland Scahill
Via Twitter
Former New York talent agent Roland Scahill pleaded guilty to charges of fraud and grand larceny for scamming more than 10 investors out of approximately $200,000 on a Broadway play, The KB Project, which didn't exist, according to The New York Times.
The 42-year-old Scahill will serve six months in jail and five years’ probation, per his arrangement with the State Supreme Court in Manhattan. He must also undergo psychiatric treatment and repay $189,000 to his investors over the next six years.
Cyrus R. Vance Jr., the Manhattan district attorney, said in a statement, “We are pleased to have brought his larcenous scheme to a grand finale.”
The suit charged Scahill, owner of RMS2 Productions, with presenting himself as lead producer on a solo play, purported to be based on an incident in the life of opera singer Kathleen Battle. Scahill reportedly told the investors that he had engaged Oscar winner Lupita Nyong'o, star of Broadway's Eclipsed, to play the lead and had booked Broadway's Booth Theatre to present it in. Not only were none of those things true, but Nyong’o, Battle, and the Shubert Organization (owner of the Booth) all said Scahill “never approached them and that they never had any deal with him.”
Scahill worked for William Morris Agency, William Morris Endeavor Entertainment, and the Gersh Agency before forming RMS2 Productions.
