Ozy Media founder and CEO Carlos Watson was charged with fraud by both the Justice Department and the SEC, just as I boarded a flight back home from vacation. It made for amazing airplane reading, with my daughter repeatedly poking me after my inadvertent utterances of "wow."

The big picture: Watson's alleged misdeeds were much more sweeping than previously known.

Why it matters: As we're learning with FTX, it's not too difficult to trick venture capitalists. So long the founder is charismatic, has accomplices and is committed to the con.

• Not even a board of directors, which Ozy had, is adequate protection. Because the board usually believes what it's told by senior management. After all, it's those senior managers — arguably more than the product or industry — in which the VCs invested.

Backstory: Ozy was a middling media startup that became headline news in September 2021, when former New York Times reporter Ben Smith scooped that Ozy chief operating officer Samir Rao had impersonated a YouTube executive during a diligence call with Goldman Sachs, which was in talks to invest $40 million into Ozy.

• Axios subsequently reported that Ozy solicited prospective investors by saying that Google Ventures had agreed to lead a Series D funding round, even though that wasn't true.
• Both allegations are included in the new lawsuits, with two new salient pieces of information: (1) Watson allegedly was listening into the Goldman Sachs call, and sending instructions via text message to Samir Rao. (2) Watson had held prior lengthy talks with Google about becoming its new head of news — one source tells me that Watson bragged about $1 million in annual comp — although it never came to pass.
• Watson had steadfastly insisted, both publicly and privately, that he had no role in Rao's call with Goldman Sachs, going so far as to claim that Rao's behavior could be explained away by a "very personal mental health issue."

It gets worse: The complaints portray a CEO playing fast and loose with his financials for years, lying consistently to prospective investors about everything from revenue to sources of revenue.

• For example, the DOJ also alleges that Watson urged the company's former CFO to send a bogus contract to a bank lender, including a forged signature for a cable company executive.
• The CFO quit on the spot, and wrote in an email to both Watson and Rao: "To be crystal clear, what you see as a measured risk — I see as a felony. Did either of you (Carlos, when you asked me to put together a contract and / or Samir, when you sent the email) have any idea (or did it even occur to you to care) that I could go to jail for forgery and bank fraud?"

Mystery: Both complaints shield the names of outside investors and partners to Ozy, although most are easy enough to figure out. Media Company 1, for example, is Oprah Winfrey's OWN. Venture lender 1 is Western Technology Investment. Technology company 1 is Google. The hedge fund manager is Marc Lasry (who's in the news this morning for other deal reasons). Etcetera.

• But there's an exception: The investment firm that wired $20 million into Ozy's Series D round just four months before the implosion. Still working on that (I'm told by multiple people that it begins with an "A")...

The bottom line: Watson was released on a $1 million bond, and is expected to next appear in court in early April. He wrote on Twitter and LinkedIn that he plans to fight the charges, and complained about being "singled out." He did not respond to an Axios request for an interview.

The Federal Communications Commission asked its administrative court to review Standard General's proposed $5.4 billion takeover of local television broadcaster Tegna (NYSE: TGNA).

Why it's the BFD: This is antitrust via passive aggression, as the parties are unlikely to receive resolution by their closing deadline of May 22.

Details: Standard General agreed last February to buy Virginia-based Tegna for $24 per share in cash, with financial backing from Apollo Global Management. Following the deal close, Apollo portfolio company Cox Media Group would acquire a handful of stations from Standard General, and also share ownership of OTT advertising platform Premion.

• Note: Cox Enterprises, the parent company of Axios, maintains a minority equity stake in Cox Media Group.

Zoom out: All of this comes as the Biden administration continues its fraught efforts to install Gigi Sohn as an FCC commissioner.

The bottom line: "The FCC likely is concerned that because Apollo, which owns 80% of the local radio and broadcast stations that were formerly fully owned by Cox Enterprises, is working with Standard General, the combined entity could unfairly control prices in overlapping markets." — Sara Fischer, Axios

[Editor's note: This item has been corrected to reflect that Gigi Sohn was nominated by President Biden to be an FCC commissioner, not FCC chair.]

Skydio, a Redwood City, Calif.-based autonomous drone-maker, raised $230m in Series E funding at a $2.2b valuation. Linse Capital led, and was joined by Hercules Capital, Axon and insiders Andreessen Horowitz, Next47, IVP, DoCoMo, NVIDIA, the Walton Family Foundation and UP Partners. https://axios.link/3IX9mZX

• Astroscale, a Tokyo-based satellite serving company, raised more than $76m from Mitsubishi Electric, Yusaku Maezawa, Mitsubishi UFJ Bank, Mitsubishi Corp., Development Bank of Japan, and FEL Corp. www.astroscale.com

• Typeface, an SF-based generative AI for enterprise content creation, raised $65m from Lightspeed Venture Partners, GV, M12 and Menlo Ventures. www.typeface.ai

• Fulfil Solutions, a Mountain View, Calif.-based developer of online grocery fulfillment robots, raised $60m in Series B funding. Eclipse led, and was joined by Khosla Ventures and DCVC. www.fulfil.com

• Flock, a British drone insurance startup, raised $38m in Series B funding. Octopus Ventures led, and was joined by CommerzVentures and insiders Social Capital, Dig Ventures and Foresight Ventures. https://axios.link/3Z0HZUy

• Rebuy, a Minneapolis-based personalization platform for online retailers, raised $17m in Series A funding. M13 led, and was joined by Dynamism Capital, R-Squared Ventures and insiders Peterson Ventures and Sidekick Partners. https://axios.link/3EGfsLL

• Champions Round, an LA-based fantasy sports startup, raised $7m in Series A funding. Point72 Ventures and Goodwater Capital co-led, and were joined by Pipeline Capital, Quest Venture Partners, Mana Ventures, Band of Angels and Gaingels. https://axios.link/3Y6Oq7p

• CollX, a Haddonfield, N.J.-based trading card evaluation app, raised $5.5m. Brand Foundry Ventures led, and was joined by Next Coast Ventures, FJ Labs, 114 Ventures, Ben Franklin Technology Partners and Morrison Seger Venture Capital Partners. https://axios.link/3IWNzSg

• Spade, a credit card transaction data API, raised $5m in seed funding. Andreessen Horowitz led, and was joined by YC, Gradient Ventures and Dash Fund. https://axios.link/3ZmZyxL

• AmerCareRoyal, an Exton, Pa.-based portfolio company of HCI Equity Partners, acquired Team Three, a St. Louis-based provider of disposables for the foodservice and janitorial industries. www.amercareroyal.com

• EQT Partners is in talks to buy around a 30% stake in South Korean security services provider SK Shieldus for more than $2.3b, per the Korea Economic Daily. https://axios.link/3Sxe3Nm

• Borealis Foods, a Canadian food tech company, agreed to go public at an implied $150m pre-money valuation, via Oxus Acquisition Corp. (Nasdaq: OXUS). Venture backers include Cibus Fund and Rocana Ventures. https://axios.link/3KFaTVP

• CleanBay Renewables, an Annapolis, Md.-based waste bioconversion company, is in talks to go public via BurTech Acquisition Corp. (Nasdaq: BRKH), a SPAC led by real estate and VC investor Shahal Khan, per Bloomberg (which previously reported BurTech was in talks to merge with German real estate firm Aggregate Holdings). CleanBay backers include AVG Group. https://axios.link/3EAuAuj

• ViaPath (fka Global Tel*Link), a Falls Church, Va.-based prison phone company owned by American Securities, is in talks to go public at more than a $1.5b valuation via a merger with Tristar Acquisition I Corp. (NYSE: TRIS), a SPAC backed by Navigation Capital, per Bloomberg. https://axios.link/3Z4UFK2

⚡ China Southern Power Grid may bid for Enel’s (Milan: ENEL) Peruvian distribution assets, which could be valued at around $2.5b, per Bloomberg. https://axios.link/41s5kjD

• Haleon (LSE: HLN) is seeking a buyer for its ChapStick lip balm band, which could fetch around $600m, per Bloomberg. https://axios.link/3kwqyw9

• Mapfre AM, the asset management arm of Spanish insurer Mapfre, increased its take in French ESG mutual fund manager LFR to 51% from 25%. www.mapfream.com

🚑 Olympus Corp. (Tokyo: 7733) agreed to acquire Taewoong Medical, a South Korean maker of endoscopic devices for gastrointestinal procedures, for up to $370m in cash (including $256m upfront). https://axios.link/3m7tTSS

🚑 Pfizer (NYSE: PFE) is in early talks to buy Seagen (Nasdaq: SGEN), a Bothell, Wash,-based cancer drugmaker with a $30b market cap, per the WSJ. https://axios.link/3xUjoET

⚡ Pioneer Natural Resources (NYSE: PXD), an Irving, Texas-based oil and gas explorer, denied a Bloomberg report that it’s considering an acquisition of smaller rival Range Resources (NYSE: RRC). https://axios.link/3Y3FOOE

🚑 Redx Pharma (LSE: REDX), a British biotech focused on cancer and fibrotic diseases, agreed to merge with Cambridge, Mass.-based Jounce Therapeutics (Nasdaq: JNCE) in a $425m all-stock deal. https://axios.link/3Z4PCth

• Toronto-Dominion Bank (TSC: TD) received all regulatory approvals for its $1.3b purchase of Cowen (Nasdaq: COWN), with the deal to close Wednesday. https://axios.link/3KDbG9S

• Blackstone is considering the launch of an open-ended European infrastructure fund, per Bloomberg. https://axios.link/3Z3G9Cr

• Crescent Capital Group raised $8b for its seventh private credit fund. www.crescentcap.com

• New Form Capital, a New York-based VC firm led by Alex Marinier, raised over $70m for its second fund, per an SEC filing.

🚑 Spex Capital, a British health-tech VC firm led by Claudio D’Angelo, says it’s targeting €100m for its debut fund. www.spexcapital.com

•Peter Clare is retiring from Carlyle, where he is chief investment officer of private equity. He’ll be succeeded by Sandra Horbach and Brian Bernasek. www.caryle.com

• Colin Hannaway joined H.I.G. Capital as a managing director of capital formation. He previously was with Houlihan Lokey. www.higcapital.com

• Rachel Livingston joined Public as director of communications, after having served in the same role at Tusk Venture Partners. https://axios.link/3yd9aQt

• Grant Paul-Florence joined Gresham House Ventures as a director of investments. He previously was with BGF. www.greshamhouseventures.com

, arguing that while macro uncertainty slowed industry activity in 2022 (deals, fundraising, exits, etc.), there's an argument to be made that conditions are ripe for an industry resurgence in the back half of this year.

Bain & Co. this morning released its annual report on global private equity, arguing that while macro uncertainty slowed industry activity in 2022 (deals, fundraising, exits, etc.), there's an argument to be made that conditions are ripe for an industry resurgance in the back half of this year.