Zach Horwitz was struggling actor using the stage name “Zach Avery.” His IMDB entry lists him in minor parts in mostly bad movies. His biggest movie role is an uncredited part as a medic in Brad Pitt’s “Fury.”
Mr. Horowitz couldn’t figure out how to get rich and famous, but he did hatch a plan to get rich.
Mr. Horwitz told investors that he had acquired and distributed dozens of cheap films including titles such as “Active Measures,” “Ruin Me” and “Slasher Party.” He produced contracts signed by HBO or Netflix executives showing he was doing business with the streaming platforms. He paid great returns to his early investors.
Those early investors were mostly college friends. Those friends offered the opportunities to their friends and family members to enter into loans with Mr. Horowitz’s production company. That lead to larger investors making loans.
One investor urged his partners to finance deals more films. “This is the goose that lays the golden egg guys, lets just hope they keep coming month after month.” He brushed off his partners’ annoyance at Mr. Horwitz for refusing to let them see his business records. “If anything not sending us financials proves to me even more that they are not desperate, they don’t need our money.”
As you might expect, Mr. Horowitz was not sending financials because it was a massive fraud. The documents were fake. He had not purchased any films and had no connection to the streaming platforms for distribution. Those early returns to investors were paid with money received from later investors. The classic Ponzi scheme.
Maybe he was a better actor than the studios gave him credit. He managed to raise $690 million dollars from investors by convincing them his production company was real. That must take some acting skill.
It looks like Mr. Horowitz will end up famous for his fraud. Whatever riches he briefly held have evaporated as the fraud came to an end.
Sources:
- SEC Obtains Emergency Asset Freeze, Charges Actor with Operating a $690 Million Ponzi Scheme: https://www.sec.gov/litigation/litreleases/2021/lr25067.htm
- SEC Complaint: https://www.sec.gov/litigation/complaints/2021/comp-pr2021-58.pdf
- A rising actor, fake HBO deals and one of Hollywood’s most audacious Ponzi schemes: https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2021-04-23/zachary-horwitz-hollywood-film-ponzi-scheme
- Actor’s Most Prominent Role Turns Out to Be Alleged $227 Million Ponzi Scheme: https://www.vulture.com/2021/04/zachary-horwitz-zach-avery-ponzi-scheme.html
- The Wildest Parts of D-List Actor Zach Avery’s Alleged Ponzi Scheme: https://www.vice.com/en/article/3aq8v8/the-wildest-parts-of-d-list-actor-zach-averys-alleged-ponzi-scheme
