Fraud and films

American businessman Bernard Madoff recently brought the phenomenon back to the limelight. A new Ponzy scheme, a financial construction paying high returns to old investors using fresh cash pumped in by new ones, has been discovered. This time, the notorious Hilton heiress could end up suffering because of it: part of the money generated by a scam production company was used to finance a film she starred in.

In 2006, Paris Hilton was offered the lead in a sure flop, «Pledge This!», a comedy about the sexiest sorority of the fictional South Beach University. To put things into perspective, «Pledge This!» fits snugly between «House of Wax» and «The Hottie and the Nottie» in the celeb's filmography. Either way, «Pledge This!» opened in 25 cinemas across the US and was released shortly thereafter on DVD.

Now, Hilton is being sued for over $8 million. The charge: she is the reason the film flopped, as she didn't abide by her contractual promotional duties. The hefty sum would be used to compensate the victims of the now-bankrupt production company. Its former manager, in Brazil since the scam, has refused to enter the American territory to testify in court.

However, the judge appears to be on Hilton's side: «If you said, 'She has to parade nude down the Champs-Elysees with a Pledge This! banner' ... and she said no, would that be breach of contract? No, of course not.»