LOS ANGELES – A former executive at StyleHaul Inc., a digital marketing company that represents “influencers” on Instagram and YouTube, pleaded guilty today to federal criminal charges for embezzling more than $22 million from his employer and then using the stolen money for personal expenses and crypto-currency gambling.

          Dennis Blieden, 30, formerly of Santa Monica and now a resident of Cincinnati, pleaded guilty to one count of wire fraud and one count of aggravated identity theft.

          According to his plea agreement, between October 2015 and March 2019, Blieden was the controller and vice president of accounting and finance for StyleHaul, a digital company once based in Hollywood, but which relocated to London earlier this year.

          As part of his job, Blieden had control over the company’s bank accounts, and he abused this authority to wire company money to his personal bank account, according to a plea agreement. Blieden then used the stolen money to pay for personal expenses and to fund his crypto-currency accounts.

          To conceal his scheme, Blieden made fraudulent entries in StyleHaul’s accounting records, falsely representing that the illegal wire transfers he made were authorized payments of money due to StyleHaul clients. Blieden also falsely indicated on one of StyleHaul’s bank accounts that wire transfers to Blieden’s personal bank account were “equity” draws that the company owed him, according to court documents. Furthermore, Blieden created fictitious wire transfer letters that purported to be from Western Union and were designed to make it appear that he had caused wire transfers from StyleHaul to pay money it purportedly owed to a client, the plea agreement states.

          Blieden also disguised his fraud by creating a fictitious lease in May 2018 for the rental of a condominium in Rosarito Beach, Mexico, which bore a forged signature of a StyleHaul executive, according to the plea agreement. Blieden admitted that he illicitly transferred $230,000 of StyleHaul’s funds by falsely representing that the condominium was being rented for business purposes for StyleHaul’s clients and employees. This conduct forms the basis of the aggravated identity theft charge.

          Blieden, who has entered and won professional poker tournaments, also frequently engaged in online gambling with crypto-currency he purchased with embezzled money, according to court documents. During the course of the alleged scheme, Blieden used money he stole from his employer to write $1,204,000 in personal checks to poker players, $1,134,956 was used to pay off his credit cards, and $8,473,734 was transferred to Blieden’s crypto-currency accounts, according to court documents.

          On February 21 and 22, shortly before his dismissal from StyleHaul, Blieden entered into two poker tournaments, wherein the buy-in amounts were $52,000 and $103,000, respectively, court papers state.

          United States District Judge André Birotte Jr. scheduled a March 20 sentencing hearing, at which time Blieden will face a statutory maximum sentence of 22 years in federal prison.

          The FBI investigated this case.

          This matter is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Valerie L. Makarewicz of the Major Frauds Section.

          LOS ANGELES – A former executive at StyleHaul Inc., a digital marketing company that represents “influencers” on YouTube and Instagram, has been arrested pursuant to a federal grand jury indictment charging him with embezzling $22 million from his employer and using the stolen money for buy-ins at professional poker tournaments, crypto-currency investing, and other personal expenses.

          Dennis Blieden, 29, formerly of Santa Monica and now residing in Nevada, was taken into federal custody yesterday in Las Vegas. The indictment, which a federal grand jury returned on Tuesday and was unsealed today, charges him with 11 counts of wire fraud, one count of aggravated identity theft, and two forfeiture counts.

          Blieden made his initial court appearance today in United States District Court in Las Vegas, and he will be arraigned on the indictment in Los Angeles at a later date.

          According to the indictment, between October 2015 and March 2019, Blieden was the controller and vice president of accounting and finance for StyleHaul, a digital company once based in Hollywood, but which relocated to London in April. In this role, Blieden had control over the company’s bank accounts, and allegedly abused this authority to wire the company’s money to his personal bank accounts.

          Blieden is charged with disguising his fraudulent behavior in various ways, including creating a fictitious lease in May 2018 for the rental of a condominium in Rosarito Beach, Mexico, which bore a forged signature of a StyleHaul executive.

          The indictment further alleges that Blieden illicitly transferred $230,000 of StyleHaul’s funds for his own personal use by falsely representing that the condominium was being rented for business purposes for StyleHaul’s clients and employees. Blieden also created fictitious wire transfer letters purportedly from Western Union to make it falsely appear that he had caused wire transfers from StyleHaul to a client to pay money due to the client, the indictment alleges.

          Blieden, who has entered and won professional poker tournaments, also frequently engaged in online gambling with crypto-currency he purchased with embezzled money, according to the government’s motion requesting detention in this case. During the course of the alleged scheme, Blieden used money he stole from his employer to write $1,204,000 in personal checks to poker players, $1,134,956 was used to pay off his credit cards, and $8,473,734 was transferred to Blieden’s crypto-currency accounts, according to court documents.

          Shortly before his dismissal from StyleHaul, on February 21 and 22, Blieden entered into two poker tournaments, wherein the buy-in amounts were $52,000 and $103,000, respectively, court papers state.

          If convicted of all charges, Blieden would face a statutory maximum sentence of more than 200 years in federal prison.

          An indictment contains allegations that a defendant has committed a crime. Every defendant is presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.

          This case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

          This matter is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Valerie L. Makarewicz of the Major Frauds Section.