<\/p>\n
UPDATE: Details have been provided in the death of Former Boy Band founder Lou Pearlman. Authorities say Pearlman died of cardiac arrest \u00a0at a Miami hospital while awaiting surgery<\/p>\n
for a heart issue. \u00a0Pearlman had a history of heart problems.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
The mastermind behind “Boy Bands” N’Sync and \u00a0The Backstreet Boys has died<\/p>\n
Lou Pearlman died Friday while serving a 25-year sentence for one of Florida’s<\/a> largest -ever Ponzi schemes<\/a>. 62-year-old Pearlman built an \u00a0empire of Boy Band<\/a> acts around the world in the late 1990s . It collapsed in 2006 after authorities discovered that he was running a massive $300 million dollar Ponzi scheme. Pearlman \u00a0filed bankruptcy in 2007, was then convicted of fraud, and subsequently sentenced to prison in 2008.\u00a0The cause of Pearlman’s death has not been disclosed as of Sunday<\/p>\n The Orlando<\/a> entrepreneur is credited with starting the ’90s global \u00a0Boy-Band craze, and managed big-name acts including the Backstreet Boys, ‘N Sync, O-Town<\/a> and the Chippendales before the scheme was uncovered.\u00a0Pearlman also invested heavily in the Orlando area, including a large redevelopment project in downtown Orlando, and \u00a0the Orlando Predators Arena Football Team.Pearlman’s \u00a0victims were conned into \u00a0investing \u00a0in worthless stock and IRAs \u00a0through his companies – \u00a0 Transcontinental Airlines Travel Services and\u00a0Trans Continental Airlines<\/a> . \u00a0He\u00a0\u00a0pleaded guilty to two federal conspiracy charges, money laundering and making a false statement in a bankruptcy proceeding.<\/p>\n NSync<\/a> singer Lance Bass<\/a> posted to Twitter<\/a> Saturday that Pearlman “might not have been a stand-up businessman, but I wouldn’t be doing what I love today (without) his influence. RIP Lou.”<\/p>\n <\/p>\n