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Crooked Cops, Stolen Laptops & the Ghost of UGNazi
- Adam Iza, the founder of cryptocurrency investment platform Zort, has been accused of paying police offers to intimidate, extort and silence rivals and former business partners. Iza additionally spent much of the company's investments on luxury items and cosmetic surgeries. Iza, also known as Assad Faiq, was under FBI investigation and known to have law enforcement deputies with the Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department (LASD) on his payroll. The investigation ultimately uncovered alleged collusion between Iza and the deputies, with Iza frequently hiring them to kidnap, extort and invade the privacy of his opponents.
- The FBI obtained a search warrant executed by LASD deputies in January 2022, which had illegally included the mobile number of an unrelated firearms investigation. According to the complaint, the phones of former hackers and business partners were being used to intimidate them, prompting investigators to search for links between Iza, the false charges and his LASD deputies.
- The indictment asserts that Iza’s businesses and associated illegal activities were supported by Iris Au who helped him spend the millions from Zort investors. Iza used his influence to extort and intimidate small-time hackers and investees seeking to discover, while Au was said to have seduced Davide Sanclimenti, a 2022 co-winner on Love Island.
- In addition to his cyber activities, Iza is also accused of harassing a man identified only as T.W., who is described as one of two Americans currently incarcerated in the Philippines for murder. The FBI reported that Iza had been attempting to extort passwords from Woody Jr. and potentially have access to cryptocurrencies obtained illegally.
- The indictment also includes several cases of Iza failing to pay for services, such as a private investigator or an associate hired to throw a party. In a separate incident, R.C. - the associate who was hired to throw Iza's party - was surrounded by armed LASD officers and held up until agreeing to return half the money he was paid. In addition, while under investigation, Iza texted someone about bribing officers and expressed the thought that it was a dangerous thing to do, claiming that he pays them $280k a month.
- The crimes described in this indictment represent a disturbing trend within English-speaking cyber communities - the emergence of violence-as-a-service, which allows cybercriminals to anonymously extort and intimidate rivals. Such offerings are found on Telegram channels, where people can hire other individuals to commit any number of violent acts, including slashing tires, firebombing a home or tossing a brick through someone’s window.
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