High Quality Content by WIKIPEDIA articles! Louis Jay "Lou" Pearlman (born June 19, 1954) is a former impresario of the successful 1990s boy bands such as The Backstreet Boys, *NSYNC, Take 5, O-Town and US5. In 2006, it was discovered that Pearlman had perpetrated one of the largest and longest-running Ponzi schemes in American history, leaving more than $300 million in debts. After getting caught on the run, and pleading guilty to conspiracy, money laundering and making false statements during a bankruptcy proceeding, in 2008 Pearlman was convicted and sentenced to (up to) 25 years.