Zach Avery: Last News

UPDATED with sentencing: Zachary Horwitz, the Hollywood actor who pleaded guilty last fall for operating a Ponzi scheme that bilked $650 million from investors who thought their money would be used to acquire licensing rights to films, was sentenced to 20 years in prison Monday.

UPDATE, 7:29 AM: Actor Zachary Horwitz has pleaded guilty in a Ponzi scheme that cost investors more than $227 million with fake promises of licensing rights to films by WarnerMedia-owned HBO and Netflix in Latin America.

Los Angeles Times reported that Zach, whose real name is Zachary Horwitz, admitted in court papers that he failed to return $231 million he duped from investors. The rest of the money from the $650 million has been returned. At a court hearing next month, Zach will plead guilty to one count of securities fraud, the Times says.

OK, you know those movies you see in Redbox or on Amazon Prime that you’ve never heard of. Yet they star actors you know, like Bruce Willis or Nicolas Cage? Well, there’s a layer below that, of movies that never even make it to the position of being quickly swiped past.

In a real-life scheme that could easily make up the plot of a network procedural or streaming limited series, HBO and Netflix helped the feds bring to justice a Hollywood wannabe who scammed investors out of hundreds of millions of dollars.

Actor Zach Avery was arrested in Los Angeles on Tuesday in connection with a $227 million Hollywood Ponzi scheme federal investigators said he masterminded.The actor, 34, whose real name is Zachary J. Horwitz, perpetrated a fraud on investors by falsely claiming he had movie licensing deals with huge companies such as HBO and Netflix, FBI agent John Verrastro said in a sworn statement in LA court Tuesday, according to the Los Angeles Times.Federal investigators said that Avery, who has been featured in movies such as The Devil Below, You're Not Alone and Last Moment of Clarity, made phony emails purportedly from the aforementioned studios, in regards to phony distribution deals, in efforts to keep his investors demanding money at bay.

On Tuesday, actor Zachary Horwitz (known professionally as Zach Avery) was arrested on charges of wire fraud, as reported by the Los Angeles Times.

Pat Saperstein Deputy EditorActor and movie investor Zachary Horwitz, who is sometimes credited as Zach Avery, was arrested Tuesday on charges that he ran a Ponzi scheme that swindled investors out of $227 million.Horwitz, 34, was taken into custody by special agents with the FBI, the U.S. Attorney’s Office reported.