‘Failed’ actor Zach Avery led a life of luxury thanks to fake film contracts, but now faces 20 years in prison

The 35-year-old also has to pay back the 230 million dollars that he extracted from more than 250 victims. Horwitz, who has appeared in a few horror films, led investors to believe that through his venture 1inMM Capital LCC, he had signed several contracts with Netflix and HBO for the distribution of his films.

But Horwitz turned out to have no relationship with those media companies and used the invested money to lead a luxurious life. According to court papers in the hands of the LA Times, he spent the money on private jets, luxury cars and a mega-villa in Los Angeles, among other things. In April last year, the actor was arrested, in October he confessed to the fraud.

pyramid scheme

The prosecutors in the case spoke of a ‘Ponzi scheme’, or a pyramid scheme, in which investors think they are investing their money for a high return, but the scammers only use their money to keep up appearances and to keep previous investors calm by using their money. to partially repay the stake.

Horwitz started the fraud in 2013 according to the FBI. He sent investors annual reports stating that 1inMM Capital LCC had already acquired the rights to nearly fifty films. The target, according to reports, was that the company bought the rights to English-language films for distribution in the Latin American market, in partnership with Netflix and HBO, and later in other countries.

fake emails

At the end of 2019, his fraud came to light and turned out to be 230 million dollars missing. The actor then tried to prove his innocence with emails that falsely gave the impression that he was in contact with his major business partners to solve payment problems. He later admitted to the fraud.

Despite the judge’s ruling that he must repay that money, the prosecutors indicated during the hearing that creditors should not count on seeing much of their money back.

As an actor, Horowitz never really managed to break through. He made his film debut in the movie in 2009 G.E.D. and has since appeared in Fury, Hell Is Where the Home Is, The White Crow in Last Moment of Clarity.

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