LOS ANGELES — A once-aspiring Hollywood actor who was the mastermind behind a $650 million Ponzi scheme has been sentenced to 20 years in federal prison, federal prosecutors announced.
Zachary Horwitz, known professionally as Zach Avery, was also ordered to pay more than $230 million in restitution to his victims, according to a press release from the Department of Justice. Horwitz previously entered a guilty plea in October 2021 to one count of securities fraud.
The DOJ said Horwitz, 35, ran a scheme "with bogus claims that investor money would be used to acquire licensing rights to films that HBO and Netflix purportedly had agreed to distribute abroad." Many of these investors were personal friends who thought they were investing into his production company 1inMM, the justice department added.
While some money went to repay earlier investors, authorities say about 200 of them lost approximately $230 million.
Prosecutors accused Horwitz of putting some of that money into his personal accounts and using the money to fund his lavish lifestyle, including the purchase of a $6 million Los Angeles residence, luxury cars, and travel by private jet, according to a complaint filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
In the sentencing memorandum, prosecutors argued that "[Horwitz'] victims came to learn...he was not a successful businessman or Hollywood insider. He just played one in real life.”
Horwitz's Hollywood career never took off. He spent the past decade acting in mostly low-budget films, including "Trespassers" and "The White Crow," according to his IMDb profile.
He also had an uncredited role as a medic in the 2014 war film "Fury," which starred Brad Pitt, Shia LaBeouf and Michael Peña.
The Associated Press contributed to this report
