ThA Young Actor Unleashes a Ponzi Scheme on the Film Industry on a New Episode of ‘The Con’

“The Hollywood Mogul Con” – In 2018, Zach Horowitz, a 28-year-old actor working under the stage name “Zach Avery,” unleashed a Ponzi scheme on the film industry. He raised more than $690 million from “five principal investors” using legally binding debt agreements in the form of promissory notes. Horowitz started soliciting money from investors on behalf of 1inMM Productions, his film production company, which was backed by fake distribution deals and the fake rights agreements. He borrowed money for six months to a year promising a return of up to 40 percent on the investment, telling investors the production intended to use their money to secure the distribution rights to various films in regional geographies and then sell those rights to streamers such as Netflix and HBO. The con was up when F.B.I. agents arrested Horowitz at his $5.7 million home in Beverlywood. The Securities and Exchange Commission charged him with securities fraud, seeking an immediate freeze of his assets and the return of “ill-gotten gains.” “The Hollywood Mogul Con,” a new episode of “The Con,” airs THURSDAY, AUG. 4 (10:00-11:00 p.m. EDT), on ABC, and next day on demand and on Hulu.

The ABC News Studios primetime series is narrated by Emmy®, GRAMMY®, Tony® and Oscar® winner and moderator of “The View,” Whoopi Goldberg, with weekly appearances by podcaster Laci Mosely (“Scam Goddess”) as a featured expert.

For the series, David Sloan is senior executive producer, and Carrie Cook serves as executive producer for ABC News. Eli Holzman and Aaron Saidman are executive producers for The Intellectual Property Corporation (IPC), a part of Sony Pictures Television, along with executive producer and showrunner John Henshaw.