Zach Horwitz Orchestrated One of Hollywood's Biggest Ponzi Schemes — Where Is He Now?
"When odds are one in a million, be that one."
Published Dec. 2 2024, 3:05 p.m. ET
In August 2019, actor Zach Avery was interviewed for the film blog Loud and Clear. He chatted about his personal life, past and upcoming projects, as well as the entertainment industry. His real name is Zach Horwitz, and he once dreamt of playing professional football before an injury changed all that. He soon found himself studying human behavior as part of the Doctoral program at the Chicago School of Professional Psychology. This led him to acting, which brought Horwitz to Los Angeles.
When asked if his degree helped with acting, Horwitz said, "Digging into the reasoning behind why people decide certain things in their life can really give you a very solid idea of who these people are and therefore choices you (as an actor) can make to play them." Two years later Horwitz was arrested and charged with operating a Ponzi scheme. It seems his background in psychology might have been used in other ways. Where is he now? Here's what we know.
Where is Zach Horwitz now? He's playing the role of an incarcerated man.
Horwitz is nearly three years into a 20-year sentence at the federal correctional institution Terminal Island. He was sentenced in February 2022 after pleading guilty to "operating a Ponzi scheme that raised at least $650 million with bogus claims that investor money would be used to acquire licensing rights to films that HBO and Netflix purportedly had agreed to distribute abroad," per the U.S. Attorney's Office, Central District of California.
The then 35-year-old was also ordered to pay $230,361,884 in restitution to his victims. In a sentencing memorandum, prosecutors argued, "Defendant Zachary Horwitz portrayed himself as a Hollywood success story. 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." They eventually learned it was all a lie.
Zach Horwitz's Ponzi scheme lasted for seven years.
The Ponzi scheme began in 2014 and involved Horwitz funneling money through his shell company. According to The New Yorker, he named it 1inMM Capital, which was a nod to his favorite saying, "When odds are one in a million, be that one." Horwitz had hundreds of promissory notes with various investors that guaranteed payment by a certain date. He would then show investors alleged film license and distribution agreements to assuage their fears.
Things came to a head in 2019 when investors began complaining about 1inMM Capital defaulting on notes. Horwitz told them this was all happening because of streaming services and sent investors "fabricated emails and text messages using the identities of actual employees of HBO and Netflix," assuring them the payments would resume soon.
Per Vice, Horwitz spent the massive amount of money he was stealing from investors on absolutely ludicrous things. He spent nearly $55,000 on a luxury watch subscription service, over $124,000 going to Vegas, and had an American Express credit card bill that almost reached $2 million.
He also claimed to buy the rights to movies that were described as "laughingly bad," the most notable of which was Paris Hilton's The Hottie and the Nottie.
For more on Horwitz's truly unbelievable story, stream Bad Actor: A Hollywood Ponzi Scheme on Hulu, starting Dec. 3.
