A Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputy and a cryptocurrency businessman who dubbed himself “The Godfather” have agreed to plead guilty to tax evasion and other federal crimes.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Central District of California says Adam Iza, the founder of the crypto trading platform Zort, also known as “The Godfather,” is expected to enter a guilty plea for crimes related to extorting money from victims in Los Angeles.
Iza, who has been in federal custody since September 2024, is charged with conspiracy against rights, wire fraud and tax evasion.
Also agreeing to plead guilty is Iza’s alleged accomplice Eric Saavedra, an LASD deputy and a former federal task force officer. Saavedra intends to plead guilty to charges of conspiracy against rights and subscribing to a false tax return.
The two are expected to officially enter guilty pleas in an LA courthouse “in the coming days.”
Iza faces up to 35 years in federal prison, while Saavedra faces up to 13 years.
Says Tyler Hatcher, special agent in charge for the IRS Criminal Investigation’s Los Angeles Field Office.
“Mr. Iza’s and Mr. Saavedra’s relationship was little more than a thuggish partnership between a thief and a crooked cop. The public should be able to trust members of law enforcement, but Mr. Saavedra violated his oath for a payday. Mr. Iza stole from anyone he could and found a big payday by ripping off Meta so that he could afford to pay for Mr. Saavedra’s corrupt protection and assistance.”
According to the press release, Iza avoided $6.78 million in federal taxes in 2021 and Saavedra received about $373,146 in unreported income in the same year.
In one instance, Iza and Saavedra targeted a person Iza thought had a laptop computer with more than $100 million in cryptocurrency on it, according to federal prosecutors.
“After securing the illegal warrant, Saavedra tracked down the victim and provided the victim’s address to Iza. In March 2022, Iza caused three armed individuals to try to force entry into the victim’s home to steal the laptop. The individuals fled after the victim fired a gunshot in their direction.”
In other instances, “two LASD deputies held a victim at gunpoint inside Iza’s residence, after which Iza caused $25,000 to be transferred from the victim’s bank account to his own, and an October 2021 event in which Iza himself held a victim at gunpoint, causing that victim to transfer $127,000 to Iza.”
Iza also admitted “to stealing more than $37 million by fraudulently gaining access to Meta Platforms Inc. business manager accounts and their associated lines of credit from 2020 to 2022.”
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