Hollywood Actor Zachary J. Arrested By FBI For Running A Fraud Ponzi Scheme

Zachary J. Horwitz, a young small-time Hollywood actor, was arrested Tuesday in Los Angeles on charges of heading and initially sponsoring a massive Ponzi scheme that swindled investors to the tune of $ 227 million by touting fictitious and completely pointless film licensing deals with HBO, Netflix and other platforms.

Accusation

Horwitz, 34, known as Zach Avery and seen in several Hollywood movies in side roles has further been accused of fabricating emails from HBO and Netflix executives about nonexistent film distribution agreements in an attempt to stave off demands for payment from investors.

In an affidavit filed in Los Angeles court, FBI agent John Verrastro set out a plan which was used by Horwitz to persuade investors to pour large sums of money into his film distribution company, 1inMM Capital LLC.

The Fraud

Horwitz sent bottles of Johnny Walker Blue Label scotch alongside an annual investors report in 2015 that highlighted a “library” of 52 films his company was supposedly distributing in Africa, Australia, New Zealand and South America, according to Verrastro. It included the 2012 horror movie “The Lords of Salem” and the 1989 action film “Kickboxer” with martial arts action star Jean-Claude Van Damme.

What Are Ponzi Schemes?

Definition1:

A Ponzi scheme is a form of fraud that lures investors and pays profits to earlier investors with funds from more recent investors. The scheme leads victims to believe that profits are coming from legitimate business activity, and they remain unaware that other investors are the source of funds. 

Definition 2:

A Ponzi scheme is a fraudulent investing scam which generates returns for earlier investors with money taken from later investors. This is similar to a pyramid scheme in that both are based on using new investors’ funds to pay the earlier backers.