SM Man Arrested for Scam Related to Fake Britney Spears Movie

Two men, including a Santa Monica resident, were arrested Thursday for alleged mail fraud after convincing people to invest in a movie that never existed, according to federal prosecutors. Britney Spears and Nick Nolte were supposedly going to co-star in a fake independent film called There for Hope.

Fifty-seven-year old Santa Monica resident Joseph Roth was arrested, along with 42-year-old Bart Douglas Slanaker, who lives in Panorama City. Slanaker owns a boiler room in North Hills, and it was from there that salespeople cold-called individuals to get them to invest in the fake movie, according to the complaint.

If convicted, the men could face up to 20 years in federal prison.

The scam occurred over the span of seven months, during which Roth and Slanaker allegedly misled their victims about how the money would be used. The men raised roughly $300,000 since August after also downplaying the investment's risk, and lying about Spears and Nolte supposedly appearing in There for Hope, the complaint says.

Slanaker withdrew the bulk of the $300,000 from a bank account after the prospective investors' checks were deposited, prosecutors allege. The FBI had been investigating Slanaker and Roth for other related scams, according to the affidavit in support of the criminal complaint.

City News Service contributed to this report.