A former California investment manager used three names and three companies to raise $62 million from investors who thought they were backing movie productions and then fraudulently misused most of the money, including for paying his own personal expenses, the Securities and Exchange Commission announced yesterday.

Remington Chase, 61, formerly of Marina del Rey, Calif., and now believed to be living in London, without admitting or denying the charges, agreed to settle the charges and to pay $8.9 million in disgorgement, plus $1 million in prejudgment interest and a civil penalty of $192,768, the SEC said. Chase used the names William Westwood and William Elliot while running the alleged schemes between February 2016 and June 2018, the SEC complaint said.

Chase, through his company Knightsbridge Entertainment, sold more than $62 million in high-yield, short-term promissory notes to about 100 investors, according to the complaint, Chase told investors that their funds would be allocated to provide short-term, post-production financing to motion picture companies. However, the complaint alleged Chase used the majority of the funds for purposes unrelated to movie financing.

Chase is alleged to have spent almost $9 million on personal expenses, including paying off nearly $1.8 million in charges on his American Express card, donating more than $1.5 million to the University of Southern California, paying himself more than $1.3 million, and using almost $1 million to purchase several Tesla automobiles.

Investors paid Chase five- and six-figure sums with returns promised at between 10% and 25%, the complaint said. A small portion of the invested funds was used for the stated purpose, the SEC said. Chase told the investors that Knightsbridge made high-interest loans to film production companies, which allowed Knightsbridge it to pay its investors attractive rates of interest for the short-term use of their monies, the complaint said.

Chase’s other companies were Chasing Air and Starfall. All three of the companies were based in Malibu, Calif., and are now defunct, the SEC said.