This image was lost some time after publication.

What would it take to crown the biggest scumbag in Hollywood history? It would seem a task of Sisyphean dimensions; a single floor of any Century City highrise at any given moment could provide a handful of deserving candidates at least. So again what would it take? How about a guy who ahem, allegedly fleeces $5.5 million dollars mostly from churchgoers like "Rosa Valdez, a widow who invested almost $100,000 through her pastor at Desert Bloom Ministries church in Whittier," in exchange for the opportunity to get in on the ground floor of a very make-believe "riveting television series based on the newly created U.S. Department of Homeland Security."

Ladies and gentlemen, I'd like to introduce you to a one Joseph M. Medawar. I'm readying the sash and tiara as we speak. From the LA Times:

[O]n Friday, in an ending that might have been foretold by anyone with a healthy skepticism of the Hollywood pitch, Medawar was arrested by FBI and IRS agents on charges that he bilked at least 70 investors many of them from local churches out of more than $5.5 million. Virtually all of the money, according to authorities, went to a lavish lifestyle that included luxury cars, shopping sprees, fancy dinners and $40,000-a-month in rent for a Beverly Hills mansion...

More stomach-churning repulsiveness after the jump...

So persuasive was Medawar, 43, that he not only won over dozens of investors but persuaded some of the state's prominent Republicans that his Homeland Security series deserved their support. They included U.S. Rep. Dana Rohrabacher of Huntington Beach and businessman Mario Rodriguez, who was the Western regional director of Bush's reelection campaign and was listed on the show's website as a producer until a few months ago.

"He talked a great game," said Rodriguez, who told Medawar to remove his name from the site after he learned about the FBI investigation.[...]

Money from Valdez and three other investors went to cashier's checks and various indulgences by Medawar's company, including a $1,310 dinner at Mastro's Steakhouse in Beverly Hills and $1,093 in purchases at Prada, [FBI Agent E. Paul] Bertrand said in the affidavit.

What the fuck did he order at Mastro's that cost $1300 dollars?! A filleted busboy?! I would like everyone to listen up for a second. Everyone. Widowed churchgoers, Congressmen, the whole lot. Television Business Affairs 101: There is no such thing as 'investing' in a television pilot and/or series. Episodic television is produced by a television studio. The network in turn pays a 'license fee' to that studio for broadcast rights, offsetting the costs of production. There is no room for you, the individual investor, in that equation. Capeesh?