‘Godfather’ Sentenced to 6 Years for $37M Meta Fraud Scheme

Adam Iza, a 26-year-old self-described businessman who referred to himself as “The Godfather,” has been sentenced to 78 months in federal prison for a scheme that defrauded Meta of more than $37 million, according to the U.S. Department of Justice.

The sentence also covers Iza’s tax-evasion conviction and his use of off-duty Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputies to intimidate individuals he considered rivals.

U.S. District Judge Percy Anderson ordered Iza to pay $23.4 million in restitution. Iza pleaded guilty in January 2025 to conspiracy against rights, wire fraud and a tax-evasion count.

His 78-month federal sentence will run concurrently with the 15-year prison sentence he received last month in Connecticut for his involvement in an attempted bitcoin robbery in August 2024.

Meta Fraud Scheme

According to prosecutors, Iza obtained access to Meta Business Manager accounts along with their associated credit lines and then sold that access to advertising firms. Meta subsequently charged clients for advertising they had not purchased before issuing refunds.

The case also highlighted how cryptocurrency custodians can become part of wider financial fraud and tax-evasion operations. The DOJ said Iza acknowledged transferring corporate revenue generated through the scheme to crypto custodians while hiding his ownership of a company known as Zort.

Prosecutors estimated that Iza received at least $36.4 million in income from the operation, resulting in an estimated $13.3 million loss in tax revenue for the IRS.

Use of Off-Duty Deputies

Between 2021 and 2022, Iza also employed off-duty Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputies to obtain confidential law-enforcement information, personal data and search warrants. The information and investigative tools were allegedly used to monitor and harass people involved in disputes with Iza.

The five former Los Angeles deputies implicated in the scheme have all since been convicted.

During sentencing, prosecutors warned that wealthy individuals cannot use their financial resources to obtain confidential databases, investigative tools, warrants, arrests, badges or firearms for personal disputes, according to the DOJ.

The case comes as U.S. authorities continue pursuing other major cryptocurrency-related fraud cases. Last month, Brooklyn resident Ronald Spektor received a 12-year prison sentence for impersonating Coinbase customer-service representatives and deceiving roughly 100 victims into believing their accounts had been compromised.

Separately, Las Vegas businessman Brent Kovar was convicted in August of operating a cryptocurrency Ponzi scheme that defrauded at least 400 investors of $24 million.