Zach Avery Pleads Guilty To $650M Ponzi Scheme
In April, Zach Avery, 34, was arrested for allegedly scamming the investor out of $650 million for the fake movie deal with Netflix and HBO. The actor has agreed to plead guilty to running a Hollywood ponzi scam.
Despite giving a lot of money back to temp investors, Horwitz spends a lot of money on his luxury lifestyle. Horwitz acknowledges that he has failed to repay $250 million. He admitted in court documents that he conned a higher level of 250 investors into giving him more than $650 million for the fictional deals through his film company, 1inMM Capital, LLC.
As per Los Angeles Time;
The agreement calls for Horwitz to plead guilty to one count of securities fraud at a hearing on Oct. 4. Prosecutors indicated in court records they will ask U.S. District Judge Mark C. Scarsi to impose a hefty sentence in light of the huge sum Horwitz swindled. He faces up to 20 years in prison.
Horwitz admitted in the plea agreement that for seven years he falsely represented to investors that his film company, 1inMM Capital, LLC, was buying foreign distribution rights to movies, then licensing them to Netflix, HBO or other platforms to stream online in Latin America, Australia, Europe and Africa.
With the real name Zachary Horwitz, Zach Avery confessed to collecting “loans” ranging from $35,000 to $1.5 million per film deal and promised to repay them within a year with a 25 to 45 percent return. He also admitted that the distribution and licensing contracts were forged, according to the agreement. Horwitz repaid most of his debt but only duped most of the investors who gave more money. The Times reports that investors who give more money funded an expensive lifestyle, allowing him to travel by private jet and purchase a $5.7 million Beverlywood house with a gym, screening room, and wine cellar.
Horwitz used the actual name of the studio executives at the distributors to create fake emails and storylines to justify the late repayment of the fund. But he admits that he has paid at least $231 million. Horwitz’s devious Ponzi scheme includes more than 250 investors and their family members, but it all crumbled when he could not fulfill the demand of investor requests in 2019. Unable to satisfy the needs of Investors results in a lawsuit that alerts Netflix to this situation.
However, the scam came to light when his wife, Mallory Horwitz, filed for divorce. She claims in court documents that she was unable to track her husband’s plan and that he has been “deceiving and manipulating me and everyone around him, and he is not the person that I believed he was,” Newsweek reports.
By pleading guilty, Horwitz was sentenced to up to 20 years in jail and a fine of $5 million or twice the gross gain or gross loss resulting from the crimes.
In exchange for the plea agreement, prosecutors will dismiss the remaining counts of the indictment against Horwitz.
Zach Avery Net Worth And Career Details
Zach Avery has an estimated net worth of $4 million. He is best known for his roles in The White Crow, Farming, and Hell Is Where the Home Is in 2018 and his latest work in the 2020 Last Moment of Clarity.
Zach Avery was a small-time actor and failed to gain popularity in his career. However, his screen debuted in the 2009 film G.E.D. He starred in the 2020 film Last Moment of Clarity. Other films to his credit are Fury, Curvature, and some short films such as Shifter and The Laughing Man.
In addition, in 2013, Zach founded a distribution company named 1inMM and listed himself as a managing partner. 1inMM claimed to distribute English films to the Latin American market through partnerships with HBO and Netflix, as reported by the FBI. Avery even claims that he sent Invertors bottles of Johnny Walker Blue Label whiskey in 2015 to celebrate successfully distributing 49 films through the 1inMM Capital banner without sustaining a single loss in the process.
Avery is further speculated to have fake owning the rights to include the 1989 Jean-Claude Van Damme action film Kickboxer in a fabricated thriving film library for 1inMM. Avery also claimed to expanded his film partnership to distribute in Australia and New Zealand.
In addition to 1inMM, Zach Avery also founded LayJax Ventures. Avery described the angel fund as a start-up investment company that provides founders with seed investments to start or grow their company while providing a unique network to help succeed outside of simply writing a check to Direct Submit. Additionally, according to Business Wire ( via the Associated Press), the firm invests in hospitality businesses and films. Both ventures allegedly funded Avery's wealthy lifestyle.
Zach allegedly seems to understand human mind works. Avery received a bachelor's degree in psychology from Indiana University. Avery graduated from a Doctoral program at the Chicago School of Professional Psychology and learned about human behavior, where he also had his restaurant at age 22, per Naluda Magazine. Zach moved to L.A. to pursue an acting career while working as a door-to-door salesman.
Zach Avery certainly didn't shortage of money. Zach Avery lived a lavish life before arrest. The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) alleged Avery used investors' money from distribution company 1inMM to purchase a $5.7 million Beverlywood house with a gym, screening room, and wine cellar and spend upwards of $100,000 on trips to Las Vegas and a $1.8 million American Express bill.
Zach Avery Married Life With Wife Mallory Hagedorn
Mallory Hagedorn is Zach Avery's wife. It is unknown that where did they marry and how long they have been together. Hagedorn has been the long-time girlfriend of Avery. In June 2018, the pair had a son named Jaxon.
Zach Avery with his wife, Mallory Hagedorn (©: GlamourBiz)
During an interview with Swagger magazine in 2019, Avery said,
"The amount of emotion that you get to experience when you become a dad is unmatched. The challenging part of being a dad while acting is the schedule that comes with production. Much of the time during shoots, I am not in Los Angeles so I am either away from him or if we can work it out, my wife and son come with me on location."
As mentioned in a February 2019 cover story for Swagger, Avery moved from Chicago to Los Angeles with nothing more than his dog, a few suitcases, a big dream, and the support of Mallory. The latter was his girlfriend at the time.
The couple, Mallory and Zach, worked hard not to stay far away while Zach was filming.
According to Mallory Hagedorn Linkedin profile, Hagedorn works as a hairstylist and colorist at the Ken Paves Salon. In 2010, Hagedorn completed a bachelor's degree in tourism management from Indiana University Bloomington. After graduation, Hagedorn studied cosmetology, barber/styling, and nail instructor at Vidal Sassoon Academy. Hagedorn soon started her career as an intern at Cathy Teeter's Beautiful Weddings before moving to Red Frog events as an event coordinator. Her subsequent work was at Vidal Sassoon before joining Ken Paves Salon in March 2013.
Hagedorn has deactivated her Twitter account where her bio reads: "Hair Stylist and Colorist at the Ken Paves Salon. My hubby and Rottweiler, Lucy, hold the key to my (heart emoji). Her last retweets from 2016 were about her husband's short film "The Laughing Man – A Joker fan film."
ncG1vNJzZmifnJa6sMHRm6CzZpOkunCvxKWcm6qZqbamv46zmJygXZbDpr7YZp6uoZypxm68zqexomWjmLWmucRmpZ6sXay8s8DHZq6inpU%3D