Variety:

Actor and movie investor Zachary Horwitz, who is sometimes credited as Zach Avery, was arrested Tuesday on charges that he ran a Ponzi scheme that swindled investors out of $227 million.

Horwitz, 34, was taken into custody by special agents with the FBI, the U.S. Attorney’s Office reported. Horwitz claimed investors’ money would be used for buying rights to films that HBO and Netflix had signed on to distribute internationally, particularly in Latin America.

Horwitz appeared Tuesday in United States District Court on a charge of wire fraud, which carries a statutory maximum penalty of 20 years in prison.