The Fatal Ponzi Scheme That Rocked Hollywood

William Santor charmed the movie world and turned the Cayman Islands into his own filmmaking paradise — one built on an allegedly massive fraud. As his scam unraveled, investors lost millions, but it was the conman who paid the ultimate price.n 2024, Ron Perlman was at work on a long-gestating Ernest Hemingway movie alongside his backer, Canadian film financier William Santor, with whom he’d made several projects during the preceding years in the Caribbean. “It culminated in a location scouting trip together in Cuba,” the actor says. “It was mind-blowingly positive. I thought we’d be in preproduction shortly thereafter.” Santor,...