Zach Avery aka Horwitz was an average actor with limited success and yet amassed a fortune worth $40 million by his own account. Zachary Horwitz's rise in Hollywood was not meteoric but extravagant.

Mr Horwitz, whose stage name is Zach Avery, allegedly raised funds from investors for film licensing deals with Netflix and HBO that did not exist. He was charged with wire fraud. If convicted ...