A 26-year-old who called himself “The Godfather” got 78 months in federal prison for a $37 million scam and for paying off-duty sheriff’s deputies to hunt down his rivals.
Story Highlights
- A federal judge sentenced Adam Iza to 78 months, about six and a half years, and ordered him to repay $23,402,766.
- Iza admitted taking in about $37 million by selling access to other people’s Meta advertising accounts.
- He paid off-duty Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputies to dig up private records on rivals and to track and threaten them.
- Five former deputies tied to his scheme have been convicted, along with his former girlfriend.
A Young Millionaire Who Rented Badges
Adam Iza, a 26-year-old crypto businessman from Beverly Hills and Newport Beach, was sentenced, federal prosecutors announced on Monday, October 5, to 78 months in prison by U.S. District Judge Percy Anderson in Los Angeles. Along with a long-running online fraud, Iza paid for something money is not supposed to buy: the power of a police badge. From August 2021 to April 2022, prosecutors say, he hired off-duty deputies as personal security and used them to settle his money fights and other disputes.
In January 2025, Iza pleaded guilty to three crimes: wire fraud, tax evasion, and conspiracy against rights, a federal charge for working with others to strip people of rights the Constitution protects. The judge also ordered $23,402,766 in restitution, which is money a criminal must pay back to the people and companies he hurt. The prison term runs at the same time as a 15-year federal sentence he received in Connecticut for an attempted Bitcoin robbery, so it adds no extra years to his stay. He has been in custody since September 2024.
How the Meta Scheme Worked
Starting in December 2020, Iza got into Meta business manager accounts without permission. These are the accounts companies use to buy ads on Facebook and Instagram, and many carry a line of credit. Iza sold access to those accounts to advertising companies. The real account owners were billed for ads they never bought. When the fraud came to light, Meta refunded them and swallowed the loss.
About $37 million flowed into Iza’s companies from 2020 through 2022. In his plea deal, he admitted to at least $36,360,844 in income through 2023 and to costing the IRS $13,286,152. He filed no corporate tax returns. To hide the money, he concealed that he owned Zort, his crypto trading platform, had a helper buy personal items for him, and moved company money into cryptocurrency accounts.
The Deputies Who Worked for “The Godfather”
The off-duty deputies pulled confidential police records and personal data on people Iza was fighting with. They also got court-approved search warrants to track those people down, then used what they found to threaten and harass them. In their sentencing memo, prosecutors wrote that people with money “cannot purchase access to confidential databases, investigative tools, warrants, arrests, badges, or firearms” for private disputes.
Five former deputies have been convicted. Eric Chase Saavedra, 42, a former Los Angeles County deputy and federal task force officer who started the security company that supplied the deputies, got 21 months. Michael David Coberg, 45, a former deputy, is serving 63 months for helping Iza squeeze money out of a rival and for setting up a fake drug arrest of another. Scott Allen Simpkins, 34, a former deputy, got 18 months for blocking an investigation into a $25,000 shakedown of a party planner at Iza’s Bel Air mansion. David Anthony Rodriguez, 45, a former deputy who worked for Iza as a private guard, got one year for filing a false search warrant application for a different client.
His Former Girlfriend Pays, Too
Iris Rabaya Au, 37, Iza’s former girlfriend, was sentenced on September 21 to 18 months in prison. She pleaded guilty to filing a false tax return that left out more than $2.6 million she got from Iza’s crimes. She must pay $1,484,343 in restitution and give up luxury sports cars, designer handbags, and three “Godfather” sculptures.
Why It Matters
Most people never think about who a deputy works for after his shift ends. This case shows what can go wrong when a rich man can hire men with badges, police database access, and the power to ask a judge for a warrant. The FBI and IRS Criminal Investigation led the case, with help from the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department itself. The man who called himself “The Godfather” learned that the badge was never really his to buy.
