DALLAS — A man who claimed to be a concert promoter for the likes of Beyonce, Nicki Minaj, and others, is charged with defrauding investors out of more than $1 million in total, federal officials announced Thursday.
Carlos Desean Goodspeed, 43, who operated under the business name Straight Like That Entertainment, was indicted on three counts of wire fraud on April 16 and was arrested at Dallas Fort Worth International Airport without incident Wednesday. He made his first appearance before U.S. Magistrate Judge Renée H. Toliver on Thursday.
Goodspeed told investors he was a concert promoter working in partnership with a multinational event marketing company, according to the indictment. He solicited investments of hundreds of thousands of dollars and guaranteed returns as high as 50% in a short period of time, officials say.
Specifically, in July of 2018, Goodspeed solicited $400,000 from one victim and promised to pay him back $650,000 within four months, officials say. He’d allegedly claimed the money would be used to promote touring shows for Nicki Minaj and Future.
The same day that would-be investor wired Straight Like That Entertainment the money, Goodspeed allegedly withdrew $200,000 to pay a court-appointed receiver in connection with a lawsuit; wired $20,000 to another investor, and withdrew $100,000 in cash and cashier’s checks. Federal officials allege that he paid back only a fraction of the victim’s $400,000 investment.
Then in January 2022, Goodspeed solicited $50,000 from another investor and told the investor the money would be used to buy concert tickets and suites for an upcoming Tyler, the Creator show.
Officials allege that Goodspeed didn’t return the principal or pay the return as promised despite the concert going on as planned. He eventually told the investor he’d be paid in full after two more concerts – a second show by Tyler, the Creator and another by Ludacris, officials say.
The investor then wired an additional $130,000 to Straight Like That Entertainment, which Goodspeed used for personal expenses, including rental payments at an upscale apartment complex, a purchase at a high-end retail store, airline fees and hotels, and making payments to other duped investors, federal officials say.
If convicted, Goodspeed faces up to 60 years in prison or 20 years per count.
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