Bernhard Eugen Fritsch was sentenced to 15 years in prison and ordered to pay nearly $26.8 million in restitution.
LOS ANGELES, CA — The FBI is searching for a former Southern California technology executive who fled the United States after a jury convicted him of wire fraud in a multimillion-dollar investment scheme, authorities said. Bernhard Eugen Fritsch, 65, has been added to the bureau’s Most Wanted Fraudsters list and is believed to be living in or near Munich, Germany.
Fritsch, the founder and CEO of Santa Monica-based StarClub Inc., was sentenced in absentia in October 2025 to 15 years in federal prison, fined $35,000 and later ordered to pay $26,806,901 in restitution. The FBI is offering a reward of up to $150,000 for information leading to his arrest and conviction on the charge related to his failure to appear.
Federal prosecutors said Fritsch raised millions of dollars from investors by making false claims about StarClub, which promoted technology designed to help celebrities and social media influencers earn money from brand endorsements. The FBI said the company raised about $35 million between January 2014 and August 2017. Prosecutors said the fraud caused approximately $26.8 million in losses to victims.
A federal jury in Los Angeles found Fritsch guilty of one count of wire fraud in April 2025 after a nine-day trial. Prosecutors said he falsely told investors that StarClub was nearing commercial agreements, investments or possible buyout offers involving major media companies. He also falsely claimed the company had earned $15 million in revenue in 2015 and had prominent companies among its investors. The jury acquitted him on a second wire fraud count.
Prosecutors said Fritsch told investors their money would be used to develop StarClub’s technology and expand its business. Instead, authorities said, he spent millions on personal expenses and a lavish lifestyle. The FBI said at least $7.3 million in investor funds went toward personal expenses, including mortgage and residential costs and luxury vehicles. Prosecutors also said investor money helped pay for a McLaren, a Rolls-Royce, improvements to a yacht and renovations to Fritsch’s Malibu home near Carbon Beach. Authorities seized the yacht and the two luxury cars.
One investor put more than $20 million into StarClub over two years based on Fritsch’s false statements, according to prosecutors. That investor also introduced Fritsch to other people who invested millions more. Federal authorities initially charged Fritsch in Los Angeles in August 2017.
Fritsch remained free on bond after his conviction. In June 2025, before a hearing concerning whether his bond should be revoked, he drove across the border into Mexico and went to Los Mochis in Sinaloa state, federal authorities said. A judge issued a federal arrest warrant after Fritsch failed to appear for the post-conviction bond hearing.
Mexican law enforcement detained Fritsch in September 2025 after finding him with false identification, according to the FBI. He was released from immigration custody and ordered to check in with a Mexican immigration court every two weeks. Instead, authorities said, he left Mexico on Oct. 6, 2025, and traveled to Munich. He was sentenced in Los Angeles two weeks later without being present in court.
Federal authorities have also prosecuted Fritsch’s girlfriend, Lucinda Jane Weist Manera of Malibu, over assistance she provided after his conviction. Manera pleaded guilty in June 2026 to one felony count of being an accessory after the fact. According to her plea agreement, she helped Fritsch remain hidden in Mexico, made payments connected to his stay there and researched how he could travel to his native Germany. Her sentencing was scheduled for Oct. 5.
The FBI added Fritsch to its Most Wanted Fraudsters list on Sept. 3 as part of a renewed effort to locate him. The list, launched in June 2026, focuses on fugitives sought in major fraud cases and is separate from the FBI’s Ten Most Wanted Fugitives list. Authorities say Fritsch remains a fugitive and believe he is residing in or near Munich.
Author note: Last updated September 4, 2026.