TV personality Carlos Watson testifies in his trial over collapse of startup Ozy Media

NEW YORK (AP) — Former TV host Carlos Watson took the witness stand Monday in the criminal trial surrounding the collapse of his Ozy Media, insisting he hadn’t schemed to con the startup's backers.

“Mr. Watson, did you conspire to commit securities fraud?” asked his lawyer, Ronald Sullivan Jr.

“I did not,” Watson said, and repeated it when asked about the other charges against him, aggravated identity theft and conspiracy to commit wire fraud.

Watson, a former news and talk show host on networks including CNN and MSNBC, is the key defense witness in the federal trial. He and the now-defunct Ozy are accused of giving backers and lenders phony financial statistics, forged contracts and other false information that created a glowing image of a company that actually was on the rocks.