Costa Mesa man charged by FBI...

Costa Mesa man charged by FBI

A Costa Mesa man was one of four people the FBI charged on Friday

with multiple counts of mail fraud and money laundering that involved

800 victims across the country, officials said.

James S. Eberhart, 61, was named in the indictment along with

Eugene M. Carriere, 53, of Sunset Beach, Richard Hines, 57, of San

Pedro, and Kenneth Gottlieb, 59, of Los Angeles, according to the

indictment.

Eberhart and Carriere were co-founders of the now defunct YES

Entertainment Network Inc. in Newport Beach. Officials said they

believe both men have fled the country and are considered fugitives.

The indictment concluded a three-year federal investigation.

Officials said Carriere and Eberhart provided sales scripts and

selling instructions to telemarketers at sales offices known as

telemarketing “boiler rooms” to solicit potential investors for YES

Entertainment.

Potential investors were then sent promotional materials claiming

that the company was established for creating and maintaining an

18-channel, multimedia, family-oriented Web site to begin operating

by fall of 1999. They promised investors that the returns would come

from advertising sales, officials said.

Between February and October of 1999, the defendants raised more

than $11 million from investors, some who gave up to $100,000, and

used most of it for personal benefit, they alleged. Carriere and

Eberhart transferred nearly $3.9 million of investor funds from the

company’s bank accounts in Hong Kong and Singapore, officials said.