Ozy Media investor sues company for fraud



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Ozy Media is being sued by one of its investors for fraud after an eventful week in which the digital media company announced both its closure and then reopening.

Driving the news: Lifeline Legacy Holdings, a Beverly Hills-based group, claims Ozy has distorted its business performance and the interests of other investors, according to a lawsuit filed yesterday in California.

  • Lifeline claims that at the time he was asked for an investment, Ozy did not disclose that Goldman Sachs had refused to invest after learning that an OZY co-founder, Samir Rao, had posed as a YouTube executive during a due diligence call.
  • It also indicates that Ozy did not disclose government investigations related to this identity theft and that Ozy claimed that “Alphabet or one of its Google affiliates” was leading a $ 30 million investment in Ozy to mid-2021.
  • Google Ventures, which would be the most logical affiliate to invest in a company like Ozy, says it has not struck such a deal. It is not clear from the lawsuit whether Ozy has already been in talks with Google about an investment, or whether a Google investment has already been made.
  • A source told Axios that Google Ventures had exploratory talks with Ozy Media about an investment before 2021, but never made an investment offer.
  • Lifeline has invested a total of $ 2.25 million in Ozy.

By the complaint: “In light of the short time between public disclosure of Rao’s fraudulent conduct and the decision to, first, shut down the business of the company, and then turn the tide, LifeLine suspects that another illegal, inappropriate or otherwise inappropriate behavior has occurred. in the business before LifeLine made its investments and which were not disclosed to LifeLine. “

Read the trial:

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