A little-known actor from Los Angeles was arrested by the FBI on Tuesday for allegedly leading a huge Ponzi scheme in which he deceived investors by lying about the success of his film distribution company.
Zachary Horwitz, 34, who starred in small films as Zach Avery, is accused of defrauding investors of $ 227 million and using most of the funds for himself, The Los Angeles Times reported. , citing federal authorities.
Horwitz allegedly brought in investors by falsely claiming that his company, 1inMM Capital LLC, had film licensing agreements with Netflix, HBO and other platforms, the newspaper reported.
He also told investors that his company distributed 52 films in South America, Africa and Australia, according to court records obtained by the newspaper, and gave financiers expensive Johnny Walker Blue Label bottles.
The actor owes investors about $ 227 million – failing to make 160 payments to them by 2019, the report said, citing the FBI.
He is accused of bank fraud. At Tuesday’s hearing, Horwitz was released on $ 1 million bond.