HYANNIS 11/24/20 Cash close up for scam story. Steve Heaslip/Cape Cod Times
Los Angeles, California – Federal prosecutors say a San Fernando Valley film production accountant siphoned nearly $2 million from the very projects he was hired to manage, funding a lavish lifestyle of luxury travel, designer goods, and relationships with adult entertainers.
Joshua Mandel, 46, of Woodland Hills, was indicted Thursday on six counts of wire fraud. The Justice Department announced Friday that Mandel will be arraigned on September 10 in U.S. District Court in Los Angeles. If convicted on all counts, he faces up to 20 years in federal prison per charge.
According to the indictment, Mandel ran First J Productions Inc., a Woodland Hills-based company where he served as both CEO and chief financial officer. He also worked as a production accountant for independent films, managing cash flow, payroll, and expenses for the productions. His responsibilities included adding funds to prepaid CASHét Cards, a common financial tool in the entertainment industry, and acting as an authorized user on production company bank accounts.
Between 2019 and 2023, prosecutors allege, Mandel exploited that access to embezzle more than $1.9 million. The indictment accuses him of writing unauthorized checks, initiating wire transfers without permission, and moving money into a CASHét Card account he named “Fun Fun Fun.”
The funds, prosecutors say, went far beyond any legitimate business use. Court documents describe hundreds of thousands of dollars paid to various young women, including pornographic actresses, as well as more than $129,000 to a woman Mandel reportedly met on a “sugar daddy” website. Records also indicate over $24,000 spent on Las Vegas hotels, clubs, and shows, along with more than $12,000 in luxury purchases from Louis Vuitton.
To mask the alleged theft, Mandel is accused of using funds from one film production to cover expenses for another, creating a cycle that prosecutors liken to a Ponzi scheme. The indictment states that while some of the stolen money was used to maintain the appearance of business continuity, much of it directly supported Mandel’s personal spending.
The case underscores the vulnerabilities in independent film accounting, where a single person may control multiple layers of financial oversight. By holding dual authority over payroll, expenses, and prepaid production cards, Mandel allegedly created and exploited a system with few internal checks.
