A Murrieta man has been charged with defrauding clients, including celebrities and athletes, of more than $1 million.
Keith Lawrence Middlebrook, 46, made his first appearance in U.S. District Court in San Diego on Thursday on 15 counts of aggravated identity theft, bankruptcy fraud, 15 counts of mail fraud and four counts of using fraudulent government seals.
Prosecutors said Middlebrook sought out clients, including professional athletes and celebrities, with promises of improving their credit scores by working with credit reporting agencies.
The name of celebrities and professional athletes weren't released by the U.S. Attorney's Office. Middlebrook's Facebook page shows him with myriad well-known stars, such as Kim Kardashian, Snooki, Chris Rock, Seal and Magic Johnson, to name a few.
Middlebrook's IMDB page says he's a single father who lives in Murrieta and has had a number of uncredited roles in TV shows and films. He was apparently a studio executive for "Entourage," according to the IMDB page.
His page also claims he's worked in the past with Lindsay Lohan.
Prosecutors said in the complaint that while knowing he couldn’t improve their credit scores, Middlebrook still charged his clients thousands, and in some cases tens of thousands of dollars, before completing any work.
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He submitted fraudulent documents from agencies, such as U.S. Bankruptcy Court, to support challenges to his clients’ debts, according to a news release from the U.S. Attorney's Office.
The indictment alleged that as part of the scheme, Middlebrook created and directed others to create documents claiming to be from businesses, financial institutions, government agencies and creditors.
The documents included letterhead, government seals and signatures of officials which were not authorized by creditors, prosecutors alleged.
Middlebrook was ordered to be held in custody on $175,000 bail.
His next court hearing is Oct. 29.
