Elijah Wood's new movie, No Man of Godwas allegedly financed using COVID relief funds which were fraudulently acquired. The American actor has been a mainstay in Hollywood for decades now, making his film debut as a child actor in 1989's Back to the Future II. He gained further recognition for his performances during the 1990s in films like Forever Young, The Adventurers of Huck Finn, and Deep Impact, though due to his role in Peter Jackson's Lord of the Rings trilogy, Wood will always be colloquially known as Frodo.

One of Wood's most recent performances came in the 2021 film, No Man of God, which debuted at the Tribeca Film Festival and saw a wider release in theaters this past summer. Directed by Amber Sealey, the film stars Wood as Bill Hagmaier, an FBI Agent tasked with interviewing the infamous serial killer Ted Bundy (Luke Kirby) during his final years on death row. The movie's script was based on real-life transcripts from the interviews that occurred between Hagmaier and Bundy from 1984 to 1989 which saw the two develop a complex relationship. No Man of God also stars Robert Patrick and Aleksa Palladino.

Related: No Man Of God: When Will The Ted Bundy Movie Come To Streaming?

Now, thanks to reporting from The Salt Lake Tribune, it's been revealed that No Man of God was allegedly financed using funds that were illegally acquired. Allison Baver, a former Olympic speed skater and founder of the production company Allison Baver Entertainment, fraudulently applied for $10 million worth of COVID relief funds and funneled some of that money into the production of No Man of God, which Wood starred in and also produced. Baver has now been indicted by a federal grand jury on nine counts of fraud.

It's currently unclear whether or not Wood or the other 10 producers on No Man of God had any knowledge of the funds which were fraudulently acquired by Baver and funneled into the production. The accused isn't scheduled to be officially arraigned until January 18, 2022, so there likely won't be much more information on the case until then. Currently, Baver is the only producer on the film who has been implicated.

It's a shame that a movie producer would lie in order to exploit the Paycheck Protection Program which was created with the goal of helping businesses stay open during the pandemic. This story and many more like it demonstrate how these relief funds can be exploited by individuals for purposes unrelated to the pandemic. This story behind No Man of God is still very much ongoing, so stay tuned for further developments.

Next: No Man Of God Ending Explained: What It Says About Ted Bundy

Source: The Salt Lake Tribune