Crime06 October, 20263 min read
Adam Iza Sentenced To 78 Months For $37 Million Meta Fraud And Tax Evasion
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Adam Iza received 78-month federal prison sentence for Meta fraud, tax evasion, and intimidation. Fraud involved unauthorized Meta access via business-manager accounts and lines of credit.
6 outlets told this the same way.
Iza Sentenced in Federal Court
Adam Iza, 26, who called himself “The Godfather,” received a 78-month federal prison sentence for defrauding Meta of more than $37 million, the U.S. Department of Justice said Tuesday.
U.S. District Judge Percy Anderson ordered Iza to pay $23,402,766 in restitution, and prosecutors said Iza was also found guilty of evading taxes and using off-duty Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputies to intimidate people he viewed as rivals.
Iza pleaded guilty in January 2025 to conspiracy against rights, wire fraud and one count of tax evasion, and the sentence ran concurrently with a 15-year prison term he received last month in Connecticut for his role in an attempted bitcoin robbery in August 2024.
Prosecutors said Iza gained access to Meta Business Manager accounts and associated credit lines, then sold that access to advertising companies, and Meta billed clients for ads they did not buy before refunding them.
Prosecutors said Iza admitted moving corporate income tied to the fraud to crypto custodians while concealing his ownership of a company called Zort, and they said he received at least $36.4 million in income from the scheme and caused an estimated $13.3 million tax loss to the IRS.
Deputies and Civil-Rights Charges
Prosecutors said Iza hired off-duty deputies to obtain confidential law-enforcement information, personal data and search warrants to track and harass people with whom he had disputes between 2021 and 2022.
The U.S. Department of Justice said prosecutors warned, “Individuals with substantial financial resources must understand that they cannot purchase access to confidential databases, investigative tools, warrants, arrests, badges, or firearms for use in private disputes,” during sentencing.
Iza’s plea agreement described him hiring off-duty LASD deputies from August 2021 to April 2022 to provide personal security.
Iza conspired with “these corrupt sheriff’s deputies” to obtain confidential law enforcement information, personally identifiable information about individuals with whom Iza had financial and other disputes, and court-authorized search warrants to track down and harass his victims.
Five now-former LASD deputies whom Iza employed “now stand convicted of federal crimes,” including Eric Chase Saavedra, 42, of Chino, who was sentenced on September 28 to 21 months in federal prison.
Restitution, Tax Loss, and Fallout
CoinDesk said Iza’s scheme involved Meta Business Manager accounts and associated credit lines, and it said the Facebook parent company billed clients for ads they did not buy before refunding them. Iza admitted moving corporate income tied to the fraud to crypto custodians while concealing his ownership of a company called Zort, and it said he received at least $36.4 million in income from the scheme. Iza admitted in his plea agreement that from 2020 through 2023 he received at least $36,360,844 in gross income from his scheme to defraud Meta, causing a total loss to the IRS of $13,286,152.
Iris Rabaya Au, 37, of Irvine, was sentenced on September 21 to 18 months in federal prison and was ordered to pay $1,484,343 in restitution and to forfeit a fleet of luxury and high-performance cars, designer handbags, and three “Godfather” sculptures. The court ordered Iza to pay $23,402,766 in restitution, and it described the sentence as running concurrent to a 15-year federal prison sentence received last month in Connecticut for his involvement in an attempted robbery of Bitcoin in the month prior to his arrest.