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7 charged with Hollywood-linked drug, money laundering scheme
| Monday, Jun 5 2006 7:15 PM
Last Updated: Monday, Jun 5 2006 7:15 PM
Seven people, including two affiliated with Limelight Films Inc., a film and TV distribution company, have been charged as part of a two-year investigation into allegations of drug trafficking, money laundering and arms dealing.
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Bruno D'Esclavelles, 45, chief executive of Limelight, and Alexander de Basseville, 35, who is affiliated with Limelight's parent, the Swiss firm ADB Swiss S.A., were arrested in Alexandria, Va., and charged with conspiracy to distribute the drug Ecstasy.
Federal officials say de Basseville met several times over two years with undercover agents posing as international drug traffickers.
De Basseville offered to launder drug money, supply weapons and broker drug deals for the agents, according to a press release from the U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia and a separate release from the Drug Enforcement Administration.
Calls to the U.S. attorney's office were not returned Monday.
Authorities say that on two occasions, de Basseville and D'Esclavelles took cash, which they were told came from drug sales, and laundered it through Limelight Films.
In February, de Basseville and D'Esclavelles allegedly arranged for an associate, Thomas Frischknecht of the Netherlands, to sell 10,000 Ecstasy pills to undercover agents. The pills were shipped to the agent in Virginia, authorities said.
Authorities say de Basseville and D'Esclavelles later agreed to sell an additional 500,000 pills.
Other meetings between the agents and the defendants took place in Geneva, Miami, Amsterdam and Los Angeles, authorities charge.
Frischknecht, 26, of Switzerland was arrested in Amsterdam and charged with conspiracy to import Ecstasy.
Authorities also charged Fabian Pruvot, 37, David Liberman, 32, Andrew Prikazhikov, 31, and Brian Delansky, 33, all of Los Angeles.
Prikazhikov and Delansky were charged with conspiracy to posses firearms in furtherance of drug trafficking.
Pruvot and Liberman were charged with conspiracy to launder money.
John Zwerling, an attorney representing D'Esclavelles, said his client denied the charges.
"This was a production that was conceived of, scripted and directed by agents of the United States government," Zwerling said. "There is zero indication that my client had ever done anything illegal in his life."
A call to an attorney representing de Basseville was not immediately returned Monday.
De Basseville is engaged to Kiera Chaplin, the 23-year-old granddaughter of actor Charlie Chaplin and the great-granddaughter of playwright Eugene O'Neill, according to her manager Mitch Zamarin. Chaplin, who is listed on the Limelight Web site as the company's chairman, was not charged.