Trial Date for Maxim Criminal Fraud Case

MANHATTAN (CN) - A Staten Island man accused of impersonating his father to trick lenders into financing more than $8 million for the supposed acquisition of Maxim Magazine will no longer be under house arrest until his upcoming trial in November, a federal judge said on Friday.

Calvin Darden Jr., 39, attempted to make $20 million on the scheme, and also rolled a Taiwanese company for $500,000 by making false promises to arrange for the New York Knicks to play an exhibition game in Taiwan, prosecutors say.

Since his February arrest, Darden has been kept under electronic monitoring and home confinement.

Prosecutors agreed to lift these restrictions because he has not violated the terms of his bail, though his movements will be restricted to the Southern District of New York, whose jurisdiction encompasses the state's New York, Bronx, Westchester, Putnam, Rockland, Orange and Sullivan Counties.

With discovery in the case set to end soon, the parties plan to meet again on Oct. 14 to argue pre-trial motions.

A media group named after Darden's father, a former United Parcel Service executive, acquired Maxim in September 2013, Business Week reported.

The younger Darden tried to pass himself off as his namesake, according to his criminal complaint.

"To convince the lenders to enter into the loan agreements, Darden forged his father's signature, impersonated his father during multiple phone calls, emails and text message communications with the lenders and other parties, and forwarded to one lender a bogus and fabricated email that purported to come from a senior executive of a major cable television company and purportedly showed that executive's interest in creating a cable channel affiliated with Maxim Magazine," the complaint states.

Darden also pretended to be his father to pull off an "NBA Fraud Scheme," according to the complaint.

U.S. District Judge Jed Rakoff set a Nov. 17 trial date for him at a brief hearing this afternoon.

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