Crypto 'Godfather' Gets Six Years for Hiring Sheriff's Deputies, $37M Meta Fraud

A federal judge has sentenced Adam Iza to 78 months in prison and ordered $23,402,766 in restitution after he admitted to a scheme that combined the misuse of off-duty law-enforcement officers with large-scale online fraud and tax evasion. Iza, who has styled himself "The Godfather," pleaded guilty in January 2025 to conspiracy against rights, wire fraud and tax evasion and has been in custody since September 2024. The new term is concurrent with a 15-year sentence he received last month for an attempted Bitcoin robbery.

Prosecutors said that between August 2021 and April 2022 Iza hired off-duty Los Angeles County sheriff's deputies as private security and conspired with them to obtain confidential law-enforcement records, personal data and court-authorized search warrants targeting people he had disputes with. The deputies also allegedly intimidated and threatened those individuals. Five former deputies have since been convicted in connection with work they did for Iza, including Eric Chase Saavedra (21 months), Michael David Coberg (63 months), Scott Allen Simpkins (18 months) and David Anthony Rodriguez (12 months).

Separately, federal authorities say Iza ran a fraud involving Meta business manager accounts beginning in December 2020. He allegedly accessed the accounts and the lines of credit tied to them, sold that access to advertising companies, and caused Meta customers to be billed for ads they never purchased. When clients raised disputes, Meta refunded them and absorbed the losses. About $37 million flowed into Iza's companies between 2020 and 2022; he admitted receiving at least $36,360,844 in gross income through 2023 and conceded the IRS sustained a loss of $13,286,152.

To conceal the proceeds, prosecutors say Iza hid ownership of his crypto trading platform Zort, had an associate buy personal items with the money, and moved corporate receipts through cryptocurrency custodians. Iza's former girlfriend, Iris Rabaya Au, was sentenced on September 21 to 18 months in prison for failing to report more than $2.6 million she received through his activities; she was ordered to pay $1,484,343 in restitution and to forfeit luxury vehicles, handbags and other assets. In sentencing filings prosecutors emphasized that people with money cannot buy warrants, arrests, badges or firearms to settle private disputes.