Bernardini, who worked in London for simon & schuster, posed as agents and publishers via email to obtain novels and other works from the writers and their representatives. And although the scam had been detected in literary circles for several years, until the arrest of the editorial employee there was no clue about this episode.
The addresses forged by the impostor resembled the domain names of legitimate publishers but with one letter changed: according to the prosecutors leading the case, Bernardini came to register more than 160 fraudulent domains.
“Filippo Bernardini used his inside knowledge of the publishing industry to create a scheme with which he stole precious works from authors and threatened the publishing industry”he pointed damian williamsfederal prosecutor for the Southern District of New York, in statements cited by AFP.
Interest in the works of relevant writers before they were published has been reported by various US media outlets in recent years, from “The Wills” of Margaret Atwood to the series Millennium from Swedish stieg larsson.
The motives for the fraud were never clear. The alleged victims were baffled by the fact that the thefts were never followed by demands for money, nor would the works have appeared online or on the deep web.
Simon & Schuster, which was not charged with wrongdoing, said at the time that it had been “shocked and horrified to learn of the allegations.”
“The protection of authors’ intellectual property is of the highest priority for Simon & Schuster,” the publisher said in a recent statement.
Screenshots of Bernardini’s LinkedIn profile shortly after his arrest described him as a “rights coordinator” at Simon & Schuster. The profile also said that he earned a BA in Chinese Language in Milan and an MA in Publishing from UCL London due to his “obsession with the written word and languages.”
His crime carries a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison. Bernardini will be sentenced in a Manhattan federal court on April 5.
Source: Ambito
I am an author and journalist who has worked in the entertainment industry for over a decade. I currently work as a news editor at a major news website, and my focus is on covering the latest trends in entertainment. I also write occasional pieces for other outlets, and have authored two books about the entertainment industry.
