The scandalous rise and fall of Lou Pearlman: The boy band mogul who built a ponzi scheme empire

Pearlman was charged with money laundering, making false claims in a bankruptcy and sentenced to 25 years in prison.

Lou Pearlman, the music manager behind the Backstreet Boys and *NSYNC, built a fraudulent empire that defrauded investors of hundreds of millions of dollars. The three-part Netflix docuseries "Dirty Pop: The Boy Band Scam" tells the shocking true story of Pearlman's rise and fall.

Pearlman, who was born and raised in New York City, started his career in the 1970s as a blimp rental executive. He later turned to music management, creating the Backstreet Boys and managing pop stars like *NSYNC, Aaron Carter, and more. However, behind the scenes, Pearlman was building a massive Ponzi scheme, using the success of his boy bands to lure private investors into his other businesses.

The scheme, which was uncovered in 2006, defrauded investors of at least $300 million. Pearlman was charged with conspiracy, money laundering, and making false claims in a bankruptcy, and was convicted and sentenced to 25 years in federal prison.

The docuseries explores Pearlman's rise as a music manager and entertainment mogul before his fall from grace when his financial scheme and empire collapsed. The series includes interviews with the artists he formerly managed, including Backstreet Boys' AJ McLean and Howie Dorough and *NSYNC's Chris Kirkpatrick, Natural's Michael Johnson, and Patrick King.