MediaMuv Scammer Takes Plea Deal in $23M Royalty-Theft Case

MediaMuv fraudster Jose Teran, who was in 2021 accused of stealing $23 million value of royalties by falsely claiming possession of greater than 50,000 songs, has accepted a plea deal.

Billboard only recently reported on Teran’s plea settlement, which arrives about 15 months after he and one Webster Batista have been indicted for masterminding the brazen rip-off. For background, Teran and Batista set the scheme in movement seven years in the past and, to facilitate the royalties theft, established an organization known as MediaMuv.

Via MediaMuv, the people in early 2017 claimed that they’d possession over the works in query, consisting mainly of Latin music and together with stakes in IP tied to Daddy Yankee, Anuel AA, and several other different high-profile acts.

(Batista and Teran bragged about their operation and confirmed off all method of expensive purchases on social media previous to being slapped with prices akin to conspiracy and wire fraud. Lengthy earlier than arrests have been made, the dimwitted defendants’ obnoxious habits caught the eye of ticked-off creators and indie artists who have been unable to monetize their respective works on YouTube.)

In the meantime, Billboard final August reported that MediaMuv had used Downtown’s AdRev monetization platform to gather a considerable portion of the stolen royalties. AdRev, in flip, is claimed to have made hundreds of thousands in commissions on the MediaMuv account regardless of receiving complaints from the music professionals (and their groups) to whom the compensation at hand was really owed.

AdRev co-founder and then-president Noah Becker exited the corporate shortly after Billboard revealed the in-depth article about MediaMuv. And whereas a former PR rep for each Becker and AdRev claimed that the exec’s departure was unrelated to the investigative piece, stated rep additional instructed Digital Music Information that Becker was performing as “a cooperating witness in a federal case in opposition to the MediaMuv defendants.”

Downtown, for its half, has remained principally tight-lipped about your entire scenario, together with the circumstances surrounding Becker’s cut up from AdRev and, extra lately, Teran’s plea deal.

Downtown rep John Vlautin didn’t reply to DMN’s request for remark about Teran’s plea cut price in time for publishing. Nevertheless, a Downtown spokesperson quite noncommittally knowledgeable Billboard that his firm is “happy” with the latest twist within the “advanced fraud scheme.”

In any occasion, Teran has formally admitted that he stole over $23 million in royalties, as initially famous. The person’s trial had been scheduled to kick off quickly – his associate in crime accepted a plea deal in April of 2022 – and he’s now anticipated to face sentencing on Monday, April seventeenth.

Batista and Teran have additionally reportedly forfeited a home, a number of automobiles, and quite a lot of financial institution accounts as a part of their plea agreements, although it’s unclear exactly how a lot cash they blew by and the way a lot restitution will attain the multimillion-dollar rip-off’s many victims.