'Wall Street Whiz Kid' pleads to stock scams enabled by projections of Hollywood glitz
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David Bloom — a twice-convicted con man known as the “Wall Street Whiz Kid” — pleaded no contest Tuesday to multiple counts of grand theft and securities fraud in Los Angeles.Bloom spent years using a historic Hollywood apartment complex and a near century-old L.A.
bar to find new marks on the West Coast, authorities said, using the trappings of luxury to fool people into giving him money.Bloom, 62, pleaded no contest on Tuesday to 18 counts of grand theft by deception and securities fraud.The Manhattan-born swindler is expected to be sentenced to a decade in prison at a June hearing.Bloom’s case had been set for trial in April, nearly three years after prosecutors first brought charges in 2023, but medical complications delayed the proceedings after only one witness took the stand.
After a week-long pause in the case, Bloom returned to court to wave a white flag Tuesday afternoon.A 2022 Times investigation detailed how Bloom ingratiated himself with regulars at the Frolic Room bar and residents of the Villa Carlotta apartment complex in Hollywood by projecting an aura of wealth and status.He promised people he could get their screenplays to Netflix or set them up with Super Bowl tickets, namedropping billionaires to convince his neighbors and fellow bar patrons he could connect them to anyone or anything.
He claimed he had early access to sell shares of popular companies that were about to go public — including Instacart, SoHo House and Snapchat.At least a dozen people forked over approximately $190,000 to Bloom in 2021, the Los Angeles Police Department previously told The Times.
The Los Angeles County public defender’s office, which was representing Bloom, declined to comment.“David Bloom didn’t just lie, he stole from people who trusted him, while he treated their livelihoods as his own personal bankroll,” Los Angeles County Dist.Atty.
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