It was nothing to sneeze at. A man who co-created the cold remedy, Zicam, has been charged with running a phony movie business called Desilu Studios after the famed production company behind “I Love Lucy” and “Star Trek,” and using cash he attracted for film projects to line his pockets.
Charles Hensley, 68, of Redondo Beach, claimed he was extremely wealthy from the fortune he made on Zicam in the 1990s, and was throwing his own money into his film projects. In fact he was broke, and seeking money to support his lifestyle, federal prosecutors said. According to an indictment filed in federal court in Los Angeles, Hensley convinced several unnamed companies to invest in his businesses, Desilu Studios Inc. and Migrande Inc. in 2017 and 2018, using falsified documents that claimed the businesses were worth billions of dollars. He also claimed he had acquired the rights to multiple projects and had secured distribution and development deals. Prosecutors say none of it was true and that the businesses were merely …