A San Fernando Valley film production accountant has been indicted on federal charges accusing him of embezzling over $1.9 million from independent film productions, using the stolen funds to finance an extravagant lifestyle that included stays at Las Vegas hotels and payments to adult film actresses, the Justice Department announced Friday.
Joshua Mandel, 46, of Woodland Hills, was charged by a federal grand jury with six counts of wire fraud. He is scheduled to appear and be arraigned on September 10 in United States District Court in Los Angeles.
According to the indictment returned Thursday, Mandel was the CEO and chief financial officer of First J Productions Inc., a Woodland Hills-based company providing accounting services to independent films.
In his role as a production account