Ex-MoviePass Exec Avoids Prison in Fraud Case

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A former executive at the now-defunct cinema subscription service MoviePass, Khalid Itum, was found guilty of wire fraud in 2024 for embezzling at least $260,000 from the company to repay money he borrowed to produce an event at the Coachella music festival in 2018. However, Itum was sentenced to time already served and avoided prison.

Why it matters

The MoviePass fraud case highlights the challenges faced by technology startups, particularly those relying on subscription models, and the need for strong financial controls and oversight to prevent executive misconduct.

The details

Itum, who was an executive at MoviePass from November 2017 to March 2019, registered a production company called Kaleidoscope Productions in 2017 and used it to organize a party at the Coachella festival. To fund the event, Itum borrowed money from two individuals, but then submitted sham invoices to MoviePass's parent company, Helios and Matheson Analytics, to repay the borrowed funds. Itum caused Helios to wire money from MoviePass and Helios accounts to Kaleidoscope's bank account, concealing his scheme by falsely telling Helios' auditor that the payments were for legitimate MoviePass expenses.

• In August 2017, Helios and Matheson Analytics acquired MoviePass.
• In 2017, Itum registered Kaleidoscope Productions and organized a party at the Coachella festival.
• In February 2024, Itum was found guilty of two counts of wire fraud.
• In 2025 and 2024, former MoviePass chief executives Theodore Farnsworth and J. Mitchell Lowe pleaded guilty for their roles in a scheme to defraud Helios.
• MoviePass was shuttered by Helios before the company filed for bankruptcy in 2020, but was revived two years later.

What’s next

Farnsworth and Lowe are expected to be sentenced later this year for their roles in the scheme to defraud Helios.