A Santa Cruz man who allegedly marketed his own streaming music service without using licensed music was indicted for wire fraud, the U.S. Department of Justice announced.

Hank Risan, 70, allegedly offered and sold stock in his software company, Media Rights Technologies Inc. and a streaming service called BlueBeat Inc.

According to prosecutors, Risan allegedly made false claims about his company’s ownership of 2.5 million songs, misrepresented the valuation of BlueBeat, made false claims of the acquisition of BlueBeat by a large media conglomerate, and falsely alleged he was associated with a former undersecretary of the U.S. Department of Commerce.

Prosecutors allege Risan told investors that “BlueBeat contains approximately 2.5 million songs and $10K per song brings music to my ears. You can do the math!”

BlueBeat allegedly had no rights to the songs, its valuations were “fictional,” and no big company was planning on acquiring BlueBeat or its catalog, prosecutors said. The former commerce official was also not involved with BlueBeat.

Approximately $3,165,859 was allegedly obtained by Risan as part of his dealings. The DOJ alleges he used the money to pay his credit cards, purchase collectables and pay his mortgage.

If convicted of all four counts of wire fraud, Risan is facing up to 20 years in federal prison and a fine of $250,000 for each count. He is next due in court on Oct. 8.

Katy St. Clair got her start in journalism by working in the classifieds department at the East Bay Express during the height of alt weeklies, then sweet talked her way into becoming staff writer, submissions editor, and music editor. She has been a columnist in the East Bay Express, SF Weekly, and the San Francisco Examiner. Starting in 2015, she begrudgingly scaled the inverted pyramid at dailies such as the Vallejo Times-Herald, The Vacaville Reporter, and the Daily Republic. She has her own independent news site and blog that covers the delightfully dysfunctional town of Vallejo, California, where she also collaborates with the investigative team at Open Vallejo. A passionate advocate for people with developmental disabilities, she serves on both the Board of the Arc of Solano and the Arc of California. She lives in Vallejo.