Hollywood actor jailed for $650 million movie ponzi scheme 😯

Zachary Joseph Horwitz, known professionally as Zach Avery, is an American actor and convicted criminal

He was arrested on charges of defrauding investors of $227 million through a Ponzi scheme in April 2021 and sentenced to 20 years in prison in February 2022.

Horwitz, who acted in small-time 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.

Horwitz portrayed himself as a Hollywood success story,” prosecutors said, according to the Department of Justice

Zachary Horwitz created fake contracts that he told investors were with HBO and Netflix to trick them into handing over vast sums of money, which he splurged on private flights, top-of-the-range autos and a luxury Los Angeles mansion, complete with a wine cellar.

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.