{"id":61597,"date":"2022-02-15T09:04:42","date_gmt":"2022-02-15T09:04:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.withinnigeria.com\/entertainment\/?p=61597"},"modified":"2022-02-15T09:04:42","modified_gmt":"2022-02-15T09:04:42","slug":"hollywood-actor-horwitz-jailed-for-650m-movie-ponzi-scheme","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.withinnigeria.com\/entertainment\/2022\/02\/15\/hollywood-actor-horwitz-jailed-for-650m-movie-ponzi-scheme\/","title":{"rendered":"Hollywood actor Horwitz jailed for $650m movie ponzi scheme"},"content":{"rendered":"

For swindling investors of $650 million in a huge Hollywood ponzi scheme, an American actor, Zachary Horwitz<\/a> <\/strong>has been jailed.<\/p>\n

Horwitz\u00a0 who used the money to finance a lavish lifestyle of yachts, jets and fast cars, was jailed on Monday for 20 years.<\/p>\n

The jailed actor 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.<\/p>\n

\u201cHorwitz portrayed himself as a Hollywood success story,\u201d prosecutors said, according to the Department of Justice.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe branded himself as an industry player, who\u2026 leveraged his relationships with online streaming platforms like HBO and Netflix to sell them foreign film distribution rights at a steady premium.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut, as his victims came to learn, (Horwitz) was not a successful businessman or Hollywood insider. He just played one.\u201d<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

The 35-year-old gave each victim a note promising a handsome profit six or 12 months later.<\/p>\n

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Over seven years he kept the scheme going by using new investors\u2019 money to repay the old ones.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

By the time it all fell apart, more than $230 million had vanished.<\/p>\n

He admitted security fraud in October, and acknowledged that he had never bought any film rights, or secured any distribution contracts.<\/p>\n

It would be \u201cdifficult to conceive a white-collar crime more egregious,\u201d prosecutors said in a memo to the judge, noting he started his life of crime by swindling university friends, according to the Los Angeles Times.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe began by betraying the trust of his own friends, people who lowered their guard because they could not possibly imagine that someone they had known for years would unflinchingly swindle them and their families out of their life savings,\u201d they wrote.<\/p>\n

Horwitz was jailed for 20 years, and ordered by Judge Mark Scarsito to repay $230 million to his victims.<\/p>\n

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