Boy-band chief pleads guilty

A former boy-band mogul pleaded guilty Thursday to an audacious fraud that used fake accountants, fake bank accounts and a dead man’s signature to swindle banks and investors out of more than $300 million.

Lou Pearlman, known for launching the Backstreet Boys and ‘N Sync, took a plea deal in a U.S. court in Orlando, Fla., on two counts of conspiracy involving bank and investor fraud, one of money laundering and one of making false claims in a bankruptcy.

“I’m accepting full responsibility,” Pearlman, 53, told U.S. District Judge G. Kendall Sharp.

The judge set a sentencing date of May 21. The charges carry a maximum prison term of 25 years and a $1-million fine, but the deal offers Pearlman the possibility of a reduced sentence in exchange for full cooperation in recovering money to repay investors.