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This Hollywood actor was arrested for an alleged $ 227 million pyramid scam

2021-04-08T03:23:04.804Z


While Zach Avery presented bogus contracts to his partners with companies like Netflix and HBO, he used funds from new investors to repay old ones and fund his lifestyle, including a $ 6 million home he bought in an upscale Los Angeles neighborhood. .


By Elisha Fieldstadt - NBC News

Federal authorities on Tuesday detained a Los Angeles television and film actor accused of running a $ 227 million Ponzi scheme that promised investors nonexistent movie rights.

Zachary Joseph Horwitz, 34, acting under the name Zach Avery, was detained by FBI agents for wire fraud, the California Central District Attorney's Office said in a statement.

The charge carries a legal maximum penalty of 20 years in prison.

According to a criminal complaint, Horwitz requested investments for his company, 1inMM Capital LLC, which he said would use the funds "to buy regional distribution rights to movies and then license the rights to online platforms such as Netflix and HBO."

He is accused of telling investors that the rights were for movies that streaming companies had agreed to distribute abroad, especially in Latin America.

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Prosecutors allege that it all started in 2015.

The actor provided promotional material to investors in which he claimed that his company, 1inMM Capital, "offered safe investments", because he had confirmation in advance from his partners that they wanted to acquire the rights before they granted the funds for the film. , according to an affidavit.

It also "provided investors with false license agreements, as well as false distribution agreements with Netflix and HBO, all of which contained false or fictitious signatures," prosecutors said.

Instead,

the funds were used to repay former investors and to finance Horwitz's lifestyle

, including the purchase of a $ 6 million residence in Beverlywood, according to the prosecution's statement.

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Investors began to complain when 1inMM Capital began defaulting on the notes in 2019, according to the criminal complaint.

Horwitz did not stop the plan, according to authorities.

Instead, he sent false correspondence from Netflix and HBO making excuses as to why the funds were not available, again using fake signatures of HBO and Netflix employees, according to the affidavit.

Netflix and HBO have denied that their companies have done business with Horwitz or 1inMM Capital, according to the affidavit.

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Horwitz told a US coroner that he understood the charge he is facing during an initial video hearing from the Los Angeles jail, according to the Los Angeles Times.

The judge set a bond of one million dollars.

His attorney, Anthony Pacheco, could not be reached for comment early Wednesday.

Horwitz's next court date is set for May 13.

According to his profile on IMDB, he has 15 credits as an actor.

Source: telemundo

All news articles on 2021-04-08

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