Khalid Itum, 42, of Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, United States was a MoviePass executive from November 2017 to March 2019. Headquartered in New York City, New York, USA, the cinema subscription service was founded on June 30, 2011 and acquired by data analytics company Helios & Matheson Analytics (HMNY) in August 2017.

In 2017, Itum registered Kaleidoscope Productions LLC, a company that provided production and marketing services. That year, he organized a party at the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival in Indio, California through the company, which was based in Los Angeles.

However, neither MoviePass nor HMNY participated in the Coachella event. Despite that, Itum borrowed money from two individuals to help fund Kaleidoscope Productions’ costs at the event.

To repay the borrowed money, Itum allegedly submitted sham invoices to HMNY for services purportedly rendered by Kaleidoscope Productions and another company owned by his associate. To pay the sham invoices, he allegedly caused HMNY employees to wire money from MoviePass and HMNY accounts to a Kaleidoscope Productions bank account.

To conceal the scheme, Itum allegedly lied to HMNY’s auditor that Kaleidoscope Productions had been used to pay legitimate MoviePass expenses from the Coachella event. He is accused of causing HMNY a total loss of $260,000.

On February 21, 2023, Federal Bureau of Investigation special agents arrested Itum. He was charged with two counts of wire fraud and two counts of money laundering.

On the same day, Itum pleaded not guilty to the charges and was ordered released on $75,000 bond. He will attend his trial on April 18, 2023.