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🇲🇽 Mexico /Crime & Justice

FBI seeks man accused of defrauding investors of $26 million through purported celebrity app

From El Universal · () Spanish

Translated from Spanish and summarized by DistantNews. Read the original for the full story.

At a glance

News Official statement In the courts
  • The FBI is seeking Bernhard Eugen Fritsch, who was convicted in Los Angeles of defrauding investors of more than $26 million through his StarSite company.
  • Prosecutors said Fritsch falsely promoted an app that would help celebrities and influencers monetize sponsorships, then used investor funds to support a luxury lifestyle.
  • Fritsch fled Mexico after his release under immigration supervision and later traveled to Germany; the FBI is offering up to $150,000 for information leading to his capture and conviction.

The FBI is asking the public to help find a fugitive who promised investors a lucrative path into the celebrity economy, then allegedly spent much of their money on luxury possessions. Bernhard Eugen Fritsch, 65, founded StarSite, a company that promoted an app supposedly designed to help celebrities and influencers earn more from social-media sponsorships.

Fritsch was convicted in Los Angeles after investors put more than $26 million into the company between 2014 and 2017. He had claimed the app could distribute advertising content and share the resulting revenue with the celebrity who posted it. To attract investment, he also said StarSite was close to commercial agreements and takeover offers from major media companies, including Disney.

Instead of developing the promised technology, the FBI says Fritsch used much of the money to maintain an extravagant lifestyle. His spending included a McLaren, a Rolls-Royce, improvements to his yacht and renovations to his Malibu mansion.

is an environment conducive

· Patrick GrandyThe FBI official’s warning about fraudsters in Southern California.

A Los Angeles jury found him guilty in April 2025. He remained free on bail while awaiting sentencing, then fled to Los Mochis, Sinaloa, in June, according to the FBI. Mexican authorities arrested him in September for possessing false identity documents, but released him under immigration supervision and ordered him to appear before a Mexican immigration court. He later fled to Munich, Germany, on Oct. 6, 2025.

In June 2026, Fritsch’s girlfriend, Lucinda Jane Weist Manera, 63, pleaded guilty to helping him hide from the FBI, remain concealed in Mexico and escape to his native Germany. Patrick Grandy, the FBI’s assistant director in charge of the Los Angeles office, said Southern California “is an environment conducive” to fraudsters. The bureau is offering up to $150,000 for information leading to Fritsch’s capture and conviction.

relentlessly

· Patrick GrandyThe FBI official’s description of the bureau’s efforts to find Fritsch.
About this summary

Originally published by El Universal in Spanish. Translated, summarized, and contextualized automatically by DistantNews, with a note on how the source frames the story. Not individually reviewed before publishing. How this works.

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