Zort founder and former Los Angeles police officer plead guilty to conspiracy, tax evasion

Odaily News According to documents from the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ), Adam Iza, founder of crypto trading platform Zort, and former Los Angeles police officer Eric Chase Saavedra have pleaded guilty to multiple charges, including conspiracy, tax evasion, and civil rights violations.
The Justice Department said Iza perpetrated a scheme involving fraud, intimidation and extortion against multiple victims in the Los Angeles area and that his accomplice, Saavedra, misused law enforcement resources to assist Iza’s operations.
Iza has been in federal custody since September 2024 and faces up to 35 years in prison, according to prosecutors. Saavedra, who has resigned from the Los Angeles Police Department, faces up to 13 years in prison. Both are expected to stand trial in federal court in Los Angeles.
Last September, the FBI accused the founder of crypto trading platform Zort of cryptocurrency fraud and bribery of corrupt law enforcement officials. The FBI said Adam Iza, the operator of Zort, a cryptocurrency trading platform, was suspected of paying three Los Angeles sheriff's assistants to obtain information about robbery targets, and that he paid the police $280,000 a month. The FBI said in the accusation that Adam Iza had accumulated wealth through shell companies, used the funds for extravagant spending, and concealed tens of millions of dollars in income from 2020 to 2022 without declaring any income tax.