American actor, Zachary Horwitz, on Monday, Feb 14, was sentenced to 20 years in jail for Ponzi scheme and ordered by the Judge, Mark Scarsito to repay $230 million to the victims he scammed.
It was said that Horwitz swindled $650 million in a huge Hollywood ponzi scheme, by creating fake contracts and told investors he work with HBO and Netflix to trick them into handling him money in which he used to finance a lavish and extravagant lifestyle of yachts, jets and fast cars.
The 35-year-old Horwitz acted in horror films under the name Zach Avery, told investors he was buying foreign distribution rights for US movies, and then selling them to streaming platforms.
Prosecutors said, according to the Department of Justice: “Horwitz portrayed himself as a Hollywood success story,”
“He branded himself as an industry player, who… leveraged his relationships with online streaming platforms like HBO and Netflix to sell them foreign film distribution rights at a steady premium.
“But, as his victims came to learn, (Horwitz) was not a successful businessman or Hollywood insider. He just played one.”
He has been doing this Ponzi for over seven year, he used new investors’ money to repay the old investors.
By the time everything fell apart, more than $230 million had been spent.
He admitted to security fraud in October 2021 and acknowledged that he had never bought any film rights, or secured any distribution contracts.
According to the prosecutors, in a memo given to the judge,it was stated that he started his life of crime by swindling university friends.
It would be “difficult to conceive a white-collar crime more egregious,”
According to the Los Angeles Times, they said: “He began by betraying the trust of his own friends, people who lowered their guard because they could not possibly imagine that someone they had known for years would unflinchingly swindle them and their families out of their life savings,”