FBI Accuses Crypto Entrepreneur of Bribery and Extortion

Adam Iza, head of the crypto trading platform Zort, allegedly paid three officers from the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department (LASD) $280,000 a month for illegal search warrants and access to police data, according to an FBI indictment.

He is accused of using police information to coerce an alleged victim (identified in documents as E.Z.) into handing over a laptop used for storing cryptocurrency. 

A Deal Gone Wrong

According to a report from the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department in November 2021, E.Z. had known Iza for two years and was involved in the crypto business. On one occasion, while giving a partner a ride, they stopped for food. Subsequently, an SUV approached, and two men emerged, one armed with a gun, instructing them to get into the vehicle.

E.Z. escaped and called the police, believing he was being kidnapped for his cryptocurrency. 

Iza told the officer who arrived at the scene that E.Z. had agreed to hand over $300,000 for digital assets, but he had brought bodyguards for security. 

The men in the SUV were former LASD employees, one of whom, an ex-deputy sheriff, owns a security firm and works for Iza. He allegedly had his gun ready because he was warned that E.Z. was armed. 

Extortion

Following the incident, E.Z. was subjected to “intimidation and harassment” by Iza. He claims to have received threatening messages containing information about him from the police database. The photos included “the top of an LASD business card,” his family, and his vehicles.

The complaint also states that Iza sent a hired private investigator “photos of confidential law enforcement data” and an image of “a GPS tracking warrant for a phone number allegedly belonging to the victim.”

The FBI later discovered a search warrant with E.Z.’s number, issued by an LASD deputy, who was accused of receiving money from Iza. 

Charges

The complaint mentions payments to three Los Angeles sheriff’s deputies, sometimes reaching nearly $200,000, through Iza’s crypto company and other businesses owned by his then-girlfriend. 

One individual interviewed by authorities claimed that Iza and E.Z. broke into his home, with Iza posing as an FBI agent. Iza was accused of stealing a laptop containing cryptocurrency and holding the alleged victim at gunpoint to obtain the password. 

The co-founder of Zort is also accused of concealing tens of millions of dollars in income and evading taxes. 

In September, Ukrainian cyber police arrested four individuals suspected of extorting 250,000 USDT (10 million hryvnias) from an online business owner.