Mark Hotton appeared on the high-stakes Broadway theater scene out of nowhere this year, offering to come to the financial rescue of a fledgling Broadway adaptation of the psychological thriller ‘‘Rebecca.’’

Although the musical’s producers had never heard of Hotton, he successfully sold himself as a globe-trotting moneyman with connections to a wealthy Australian named Paul Abrams. That was before Hotton raised suspicions by claiming that Abrams had suddenly dropped dead.