Evan Montvel Cohen (born 1966) is an American businessman living on the island of

Guam Guam ( ; ) is an island that is an Territories of the United States, organized, unincorporated territory of the United States in the Micronesia subregion of the western Pacific Ocean. Guam's capital is Hagåtña, Guam, Hagåtña, and the most ...

. He was a founder and the first chairman of the liberal

Air America Radio Air America (formerly Air America Radio and Air America Media) was an American radio network specializing in progressive talk radio. It was on the air from March 2004 to January 2010. The network was founded as a left–wing alternative to coun ...

. Cohen has worked primarily in the broadcasting industry and in politics.

Early life

Montvel Cohen attended

Beloit College Beloit College is a private liberal arts college in Beloit, Wisconsin, United States. Founded in 1846 when Wisconsin was still a territory, it is the state's oldest continuously operated college. It has an enrollment of roughly 1,000 undergradua ...

Wisconsin Wisconsin ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest of the United States. It borders Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake Michigan to the east, Michig ...

, during the 1980s. Prior to Air America, Cohen was a major shareholder of ''Latte Publishing'', a Guam-based publishing company, was a vice president at Sorensen Pacific Broadcasting, and a

market research Market research is an organized effort to gather information about target markets and customers. It involves understanding who they are and what they need. It is an important component of business strategy and a major factor in maintaining com ...

specialist in Guam. He also owned The Communications Corp and many other businesses. Montvel Cohen also invested in several Asian ad agencies and media businesses in the mid and late 1990s. Cohen also participated in political campaigns as a consultant and chairman of a

political action committee In the United States, a political action committee (PAC) is a tax-exempt 527 organization that pools campaign contributions from members and donates those funds to campaigns for or against candidates, ballot initiatives, or legislation. The l ...

.Foerstel, Karen. De la Garza Names 25-Year Aide As Staff Director on Ag. ''

Roll Call ''Roll Call'' is a newspaper and website published in Washington, D.C., United States, when the United States Congress is in session, reporting news of legislative and political maneuverings on Capitol Hill, as well as political coverage of c ...

'', March 12, 1990

Air America

In 2003, Cohen was working as Director of Development for the Gloria Wise Boys and Girls Clubs when he and business partner

Rex Sorensen Rex Sorensen (1943 – March 10, 2019) was the chairman and CEO of Sorensen Media Group. He was a founding board member of Air America Radio. Biography Sorensen was a graduate of the University of Oregon and was a Certified Public Accountant. S ...

, CEO of Sorensen Media Group, created Progress Media Inc. On March 31, 2004, Air America was launched with much fanfare on flagship

WLIB WLIB (1190 kHz, "La Exitosa 98.7 y 1190 AM") is a commercial AM radio station in New York City. Owned by Emmis Corporation, it is an AM simulcast of sister FM station 98.7 WEPN-FM. By day, WLIB is powered at 10,000 watts, using a direction ...

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

. Soon afterward it was discovered that Cohen had secured part of the money used to found the network by a loan from his employer, the

non-profit A nonprofit organization (NPO), also known as a nonbusiness entity, nonprofit institution, not-for-profit organization, or simply a nonprofit, is a non-governmental (private) legal entity organized and operated for a collective, public, or so ...

Gloria Wise Boys and Girls Clubs. Approved by the board of directors and in the amount of $480,000, it went to Cohen's company Progress Media, then owner of Air America Radio. The Gloria Wise group was a non-profit organization, partially funded by the city of New York, which provided services for children and seniors in the Bronx. The city suspended further funding of the agency, and

Boys and Girls Clubs of America Boys & Girls Clubs of America (BGCA) is a national organization of local chapters which provide voluntary after-school programs for young people. The organization, which holds a congressional charter under Title 36 of the United States Code, has i ...

revoked the group's right to use their name, likeness or logo. When the funds were transferred Evan Montvel Cohen was still Director of Development for Gloria Wise. This was part of a larger misappropriation of funds by the organization's executives, which saw several of them receiving money from the organization that was in turn used for personal expenditures. By the time this was revealed, Progress Media Inc. had sold its Air America rights to Piquant LLC (in November 2004), who subsequently agreed to repay Gloria Wise $875,000 worth of the debt, as a condition of the sale.

Lotus Media Services

Cohen is the managing director for Sorensen Media Group and Chairman of Lotus Media Services.www.pacificnewscenter.com
Youth Rock - Battle Of The Bands Hits Guam This Week Lotus Media Services is a creative content development and production house providing radio and television content for the

Pacific Rim The Pacific Rim comprises the lands around the rim of the Pacific Ocean. The '' Pacific Basin'' includes the Pacific Rim and the islands in the Pacific Ocean. The Pacific Rim roughly overlaps with the geological Pacific Ring of Fire. List ...

and the U.S.. In 2007 Montvel-Cohen began focusing mainly on TV and web video content development, Cohen developed the TV programs “GU MD”, “The Buzz”, and “TimeOut” and more than 15 other programs and hundreds of online video segments. Montvel Cohen and Sorensen have partnered with

MTV Philippines MTV Philippines was a 24-hour music/entertainment television network owned by All Youth Channels, All Youth Channels, Inc., through a partnership with MTV Networks Asia Pacific. The network originally started its broadcast on January 1, 2001. ...

and ABS-CBN Corporation - the largest entertainment and media conglomerate in the Philippines to create television programming for Guam and other media markets.

2008 arrest

Cohen was arrested in Guam on May 26, 2008 after being indicted by a grand jury in

Hawaii Hawaii ( ; ) is an island U.S. state, state of the United States, in the Pacific Ocean about southwest of the U.S. mainland. One of the two Non-contiguous United States, non-contiguous U.S. states (along with Alaska), it is the only sta ...

for theft, fraudulent use of a credit card, forgery, and money laundering. He was extradited from Guam to Hawaii and subsequently released on bail. In 2009, Cohen pleaded no contest (guilty) to one count and the other charges were dropped. In his plea agreement, he was sentenced to five years probation and continued to run his company. Montvel-Cohen is currently splitting his time between Guam and Brooklyn, New York.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cohen, Evan Montvel 1966 births 20th-century Sephardi Jews 21st-century Sephardi Jews Living people Guamanian Jews Beloit College alumni American radio executives Guamanian businesspeople People extradited within the United States