One of the founders and former owners of the /DRIVE and Fast Lane Daily online video channels, Emil Rensing, has been arrested on charges that he defrauded his former employer Epix of more than $8 million over a span of several years.
According to Reuters, a criminal complaint filed against Rensing, who used to serve as Epix’s chief digital officer, alleges he steered a portion of Epix’s digital media services business in the direction of companies he quietly owned during the period between April 2010 and August 2015. The promised services, the complaint says, were rarely performed. Rensing also allegedly used a series of stolen and false identities to mask his role in the fraud, according to the complaint.
He was taken into custody by the Federal Bureau of Investigation today at his Manhattan home, and officially charged with aggravated identity theft and wire fraud. He is expected to appear in federal court today.
Rensing, who served as a largely silent partner in /DRIVE and Fast Lane Daily for years, has not been involved in either entity since they joined forces with The Drive earlier this year.
Epix, a joint venture between Lions Gate, Viacom, and MGM, is a premium TV channel along the lines of HBO or Showtime. If you haven’t heard of it, don’t feel bad; It was launched in late 2009, and it lives high enough on most cable boxes that you’re not likely to stumble onto it unless you venture far north of even the porno channels.