When 23-year-old investor Nicholas Mugalli decided to open an office in Riyadh in 2023, he was eager to cozy up to the Saudi government to boost his chance of success.
So after self-described filmmaker Beau Kerouac approached the New York City resident with an opportunity to invest in a documentary showcasing the people and places of the kingdom in the best possible light, he jumped at the chance.
It seemed like a safe bet. Kerouac boasted of projects in the works starring Hollywood A-listers, including Leonardo DiCaprio and Tom Cruise, and claimed he had deals going with the industry’s biggest studios. His extensive connections guaranteed the doc would be a winner, and he promised more than $24 million in profit, Mugalli says. More importantly, the project would allow Mugalli to garner the “good will” of the Saudis, while promoting his own business at the same time.
But, according to a $70 million-plus lawsuit obtained by The Independent, Kerouac’s pitch was nothing more than a scam, ensnaring an unwitting Mugalli with the wannabe filmmaker’s “cultivated suave English accent” and “dashing art of persuasion.” Even Kerouac’s name was fake, court papers allege.
The lawsuit describes a “villainous ploy” involving political intrigue, financial treachery, and outright deception, which played out across the U.S., Europe, and the Middle East until the audacious scheme finally came undone. Kerouac is accused of stealing at least $500,000 from investors in the film, half of which came from Mugalli, according to his complaint, which says Kerouac’s actions displayed “a high degree of moral turpitude,” as well as “wanton dishonesty.”
Reached by phone on Wednesday, a bewildered-seeming Kerouac, who lives in the U.K., insisted he had done nothing wrong, and was unaware he was being sued until The Independent contacted him for comment.
“None of this makes any sense,” Kerouac argued, calling Mugalli’s claims “ludicrous.”
“None of these claims are true,” Kerouac emphasized in a follow-up email.
He said he has been unable to reach Mugalli in recent months, and did not want to offer further details before contacting a lawyer to address the allegations in the suit.
In an email, Mugalli’s attorney, Sean Holas, told The Independent that the dispute is “not a cookie-cutter” case.
He claimed Kerouac caused “numerous harms,” and that Mugalli and his company now “seek justice and compensation… for damages caused by the fraudulent misrepresentations and self-dealings of Mr. Kerouac.” Mugalli “remains committed” to completing the unfinished documentary, the lawyer added.
The stranger-than-fiction tale begins in October 2023, when Mugalli, who claims to run a hedge fund and have a personal net worth of $100 million, was casting about for ways to impress his Saudi hosts, according to a complaint filed February 4 in New York State Supreme Court.
Mugalli was introduced to Kerouac in early 2024 by cameraman Sheldon Herron, a mutual acquaintance, the complaint goes on. It says Kerouac proposed shooting a doc titled RAWI: The Storyteller, funded in part by Mugalli, showcasing the people, places, and “rich cultural history” of Saudi Arabia. The rest of the budget would come from an English film school Kerouac had solicited for a donation, along with a former pro rugby player, according to the complaint.
Mugalli was impressed with Kerouac’s pitch deck for the documentary, which sought a $3 million total budget. It listed past work with Paramount, Universal, and Netflix, upcoming projects with DiCaprio, Cruise and Jake Gyllenhaal, among other megastars, and Mugalli believed that funding and producing the film would reflect well on his company, according to the complaint.
