Hollywood actor Zach Avery, who has worked in films like ‘The White Crow’ and ‘Fury’, was arrested on Tuesday (April 6) in connection with a Hollywood Ponzi scheme. Avery was taken into custody for allegedly defrauding investors of millions of dollars, a report in Los Angeles Times said.
Zach, whose real name is Zachary J Horwitz, was arrested for allegedly leading a Ponzi scheme which defrauded investors out of more than $227 million.
According to FBI, the Hollywood actor has been accused of fabricating licensing deals with leading platforms like HBO, Netflix with the motive of securing funding for his film distribution company, 1inMM Capital LLC.
A criminal complaint was filed in the United States District Court against Zach Avery on Monday. FBI agent John Verrastro accused him of cheating investors of a huge sum of money by persuading them to invest in his company.
Verrastro said that actor allegedly sent the investors bottles of Johnny Walker Blue Label scotch along with the company's 2015 annual report that which highlighted the ‘library’ of 52 movies which his film company was supposedly distributing Australia, New Zealand, Africa and South America.
The FB agent further accused Horwitz of luring the investors with the promise of giving them 40 percent returns with a year. The Hollywood actor used investor’s money to purchase a six-bedroom home in Los Angeles's Beverlywood neighbourhood for USD 6.5 million in 2018.
Zach Avery would fabricate email correspondence with HBO and Netflix executives to justify the delays in payment when the amount was due. The FBI agents arrested the actor on a wire fraud charge on Tuesday (April 6) morning at his home in LA’s Beverlywood.
The agents also conducted a search at house for evidence of securities and mail fraud, money laundering and other crimes.
(With PTI Inputs)