ORLANDO, Fla. – Music mogul Lou Pearlman, 62, built his pop empire out of Orlando. His headquarters for both the Backstreet Boys and NSYNC was at Church Street Station.
But within the same building, was the headquarters of one of the largest Ponzi schemes in the state and on Monday, those who lost millions reacted to Pearlman's passing.
"I'm grateful from the standpoint that he's not going to get out and hurt other people," said David Seldy.
Both Seldy and his parents were victims of the Pearlman's Ponzi scheme.
"What he did was horrific and horrible, this had catastrophic events for so many people's lives, it was like a psychological mugging," he added. "I would never rejoice in a human being dying, I would just say I'm happy he can't harm anybody else."
Orlando's Roy Kobert was Seldy's attorney. He represented more than 90 victims, most of whom, he said, were elderly.
"He convinced your grandma and grandpa to put their life savings in one of his companies and promised returns of only 5 percent to 8 percent and he would cut and paste 'Lloyds of London' or 'FDIC insured' on the bottom of those statements and they were all false," Kobert told News 6.
He said several of the victims he represented nearly a decade ago called him this weekend after Pearlman's passing.
"The only reaction I have heard is they are numb," he said. "They'd rather him be there longer and suffer the pain that they are suffering today."