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Sony Worker and Crony Stole Nearly $750K From Music Giant in Song Scam

By James Fanelli | November 5, 2015 2:30pm
 Xavier Guzman and Daniel Lachica are accused of stealing nearly $750,000 from Sony Music Entertainment in royalty Scam.
Xavier Guzman and Daniel Lachica are accused of stealing nearly $750,000 from Sony Music Entertainment in royalty Scam.
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Michael Buckner/Getty Images

NEW YORK CITY — Time to face the music.

A Sony employee bilked the music giant to the tune of nearly $750,000 by falsely claiming it owed his crony royalties for more than 250 songs, Manhattan prosecutors said in court papers.

Xavier Guzman and Daniel Lachica were arrested Wednesday for orchestrating a scam that involved Lachica lying about being the copyright representative for the owners of songs that Sony Music Entertainment had used, according to court records. Guzman, a copyright analyst at Sony Music Entertainment for 13 years, helped convince his company that it needed to pay royalties to Lachica, prosecutors said.

The court documents don't specify which songs.

Guzman, 37, and Lachica, 38, were both charged with two felonies for grand larceny and criminal possession of stolen property. Lachica was also charged with money laundering.

They were expected to be arraigned in Manhattan Criminal Court on Thursday, records show.

Prosecutors said that between 2009 and 2014, Guzman used his position within Sony to conspire with Lachica.

Lachica, of Yonkers, posed as a publishing representative for the copyright owners of more than 250 songs and claimed he was entitled to royalties for Sony's use of them. Guzman, of the Bronx, told Sony employees that Lachica's claims were legitimate and helped guide Lachica's request through the approval process, prosecutors said.

Sony paid $736,359 to Lachica, according to court records. Lachica later gave $410,000 to Guzman and kept the remaining $326,359, prosecutors said.