Hollywood Actor Zach Avery Arrested In Multi-Million Dollar Ponzi Scheme

The actor allegedly used money from the scheme to fund a lavish lifestyle

American actor Zach Avery was arrested by FBI agents in Los Angeles on Tuesday for allegedly masterminding a Ponzi scheme that defrauded investors of hundreds of millions of dollars, US authorities said. Avery, whose real name is Zachary Horwitz, told investors his company 1inMM Capital would buy film distribution rights and license them to Netflix and HBO but in fact had "no business relationship with either company", according to the Securities and Exchange Commission. Instead, the 34-year-old operated the company as a Ponzi scheme, using money from new investors to pay older ones, the US Attorney's Office for the Central District of California said in a statement. The SEC said his scheme had raised more than $690 million. The Department of Justice said it began in 2015 and that $227 million put in by victims was yet to be repaid.