Harry Jakobs – In Loving Memory Terrence emails:
Luke, just read your what happened to on Harry Jakobs. Trust me, your belief that you’re a bastard as compared to him? Not even close. What he did to people in Hollywood and Montreal (and probably other countries) pales to whatever you said that offended him. And I’m not even 100% sure if he’s actually dead or faked it, as there’s another Harry Jakobs out there in Arizona who’s ripping off people and destroying lives just as effectively as the one I know. I used to work on an tv show of his that his produced in Montreal, a show called Time of Your Life. It was this pretty horrendous teen tv show a la 90210, just without the budget and production values/ Well, just on that show alone (and there is TONS of proof in the Quebec Superior Court records), he alledgedly – – did not pay taxes on salaries of any of the cast, production, and misc staff (this ran into the millions); – did not pay any of the WORKMAN’S comp requirements, so had anyone gotten hurt, crippled or killed on the show, they were on their own; – had convinced a number of merchants to loan merchandise to the show, which he then sold off at the end of the season; – would eat at any number of local restaurants, running tabs of thousands of dollars with no intention to pay; – (this point is unconfirmed, but relayed to me by a Mr. Mashkin, who would be explained later) took the production tapes of the show, and would then go off and sell the broadcast rights over around the world (known countries, Canada twice in english and french, France, Germany, Italy and Indonesia) with no royalties to any others who may have been entitled; – had rented all of the production equipment, and then SOLD them all off illegally at the end of season. That’s just with that show. In the years after that, a writer based in Hollywood, Mr. Mashkin, was swindled out of a multimillion dollar home and was drained of almost all of his savings trying to fight Jakobs. Jakobs somehow managed to convince Mashkin to invest in a number of business dealings and rent out part of Mashkin’s house. When they proved false or fraudulant, he somehow managed to steal part title of Mashkin’s home. Mashkin was bankrupted as a result, with his life savings wiped out. He then proceeded to try something similar with Empire Strikes Back director Lawrence Kasden, but I don’t know the end results of that. But it’s just incredible. There are 40+ legal suits against Jakobs for fraud, theft and so on in just Quebec alone, before he skipped off to Hollywood. With the Mashkin fights as well, I can only begin to imagine what might be in California.
