In 2018, Zach Horowitz, a 28-year-old actor working under thestage name "Zach Avery," unleashed a Ponzi scheme on the filmindustry. He raised more than 0 million from "five principalinvestors" using legally binding debt agreements in the form ofpromissory notes. Horowitz started soliciting money frominvestors on behalf of 1inMM Productions, his film productioncompany, which was backed by fake distribution deals and thefake rights agreements. He borrowed money for six months to ayear promising a return of up to 40 percent on the investment,telling investors the production intended to use their money tosecure the distribution rights to various films in regionalgeographies and then sell those rights to streamers such asNetflix and HBO. The con was up when F.B.I. agents arrestedHorowitz at his .7 million home in Beverlywood. TheSecurities and Exchange Commission charged him with securitiesfraud, seeking an immediate freeze of his assets and thereturn of "ill-gotten gains."
