LOS ANGELES — An actor who scammed investors out of at least $650 million was sentenced to 20 years in prison.
The U.S. Department of Justice announced Zachary Horwitz was sentenced to 240 months in prison and ordered to pay $230,361,884 in restitution to his victims.
Horwitz was involved in a years-long scheme, where he took money from investors and claimed the money would be used to get the rights to films that HBO and Netflix had agreed to distribute, according to the Department of Justice.
“Defendant Zachary Horwitz portrayed himself as a Hollywood success story,” said prosecutors in a sentencing memorandum. “He branded himself as an industry player, who, through his company … leveraged his relationships with online streaming platforms like HBO and Netflix to sell them foreign film distribution rights at a steady premium … But, as his victims came to learn, [Horwitz] was not a successful businessman or Hollywood insider. He just played one in real life.”
Horwitz allegedly used the money investors gave him to buy a $6 million home, luxury cars and travel on a private jet, The Wall Street Journal reported.
Horwitz is also known by his stage name, Zach Avery, and has appeared in some low-budget films, including “Trespassers” and “The White Crow,” CNN reported.
Horwitz told U.S. District Judge Mark C. Scarsi that he made “misguided, awful decisions” when he tried to break into the movie business, and apologized for the “immense pain and hardship” he caused, The Los Angeles Times reported. Scarsi, in turn remarked it was striking that neither Horwitz nor his attorneys offered any explanation for his extravagant spending, per the Times.
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