The 35-year-old, who stars in 2020’s ‘Last Moment of Clarity’, is also ordered to pay $230,361,884 in restitution to his victims after pleading guilty to one count of securities fraud in the fall of 2021.
AceShowbiz -Actor Zachary J. Horwitz, who is known professionally as Zach Avery, has received a hefty sentence for running a $650 million Ponzi scheme. The Los Angeles-based man was sentenced to 240 months in jail on Monday, February 14.
United States District Judge Mark C. Scarsi also ordered the 35-year-old to pay $230,361,884 in restitution to his victims. “Defendant Zachary Horwitz portrayed himself as a Hollywood success story,” prosecutors argued in a sentencing memorandum.
“He branded himself as an industry player, who, through his company…leveraged his relationships with online streaming platforms like HBO and Netflix to sell them foreign film distribution rights at a steady premium…,” the memorandum continued to read. “But, as his victims came to learn, [Horwitz] was not a successful businessman or Hollywood insider. He just played one in real life.”
Horwitz was arrested in April 2021 on charges of wire fraud. According to investigators, for more than five years, he raised millions of dollars from investors, many of whom were personal friends, based on false claims that their money would be used by his company, 1inMM Capital, to acquire film distribution rights in foreign territories, which then would be licensed to online platforms like Netflix and HBO.
But that was a lie. Horwitz sold people on his scheme by showing them fake licensing and distribution agreements, featuring forged signatures. Instead of using the money to buy licensing rights, he used the investors’ money to repay earlier investors and to fund his own lavish lifestyle, including the purchase of his $6 million Beverlywood residence, luxury cars, and travel by private jet.
In October 2021, Horwitz pleaded guilty to one count of securities fraud.
Horwitz’s acting credits include “Last Moment of Clarity“, “The White Crow” and “Farming“. He also appeared as an extra in Brad Pitt‘s 2014 film “Fury“.
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