Ozy Media co-founder Carlos Watson arrested on fraud charges.

Authorities said Ozy Media CEO Carlos Watson, a journalist, entrepreneur and broadcaster, was arrested on Thursday and accused of misleading investors about earnings and forecasts.

Prosecutors said the host-turned-CEO was arrested after a former startup partner pleaded guilty to fraud in a secret trial.

Authorities said Watson was arrested by the FBI at a Manhattan hotel and is due to appear in Brooklyn Federal Court on charges of conspiracy to commit securities fraud and conspiracy to commit wire fraud.

Ozy Media Carlos Watson at the "Challengers: 16 of 16" panel in Beverly Hills, California on July 29, 2016.

Watson, 53, “engaged in a scheme to defraud potential investors, potential acquirers, creditors and potential creditors of Ozy” by misrepresenting the company’s audience size and financial results, according to a Wednesday court document dated Wednesday by the Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of New York.

The company announced plans to close in 2021 after The New York Times reported that Ozi co-founder Sameer Rao posed as a YouTube executive during a February business call with Goldman Sachs.

But the content creation company decided to continue its activities.

Watson and Rao co-founded Ozy in 2013. The brand creates content such as podcasts and TV series, including “Black Women Own the Talk” on the Oprah Winfrey Network and “Challengers: 16 by 16” on PBS.

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