By Los Angeles County Politics
A 26-year-old who took in some $37 million by hijacking Meta advertising accounts used his money to buy something more dangerous: the services of Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputies, who helped him threaten and harass his rivals.
Adam Iza, who called himself “The Godfather” and formerly lived in Beverly Hills and Newport Beach, was sentenced yesterday by U.S. District Judge Percy Anderson to 78 months in federal prison and ordered to pay $23.4 million in restitution.
Iza pleaded guilty in January 2025 to conspiracy against rights, wire fraud and tax evasion. His sentence runs concurrently with the 15-year federal sentence he received last month in Connecticut for an attempted Bitcoin robbery, so in practical terms the Los Angeles case adds no prison time.
“Individuals with substantial financial resources must understand that they cannot purchase access to confidential databases, investigative tools, warrants, arrests, badges, or firearms for use in private disputes,” federal prosecutors wrote in a sentencing memorandum.
From December 2020 to September 2024, Iza fraudulently accessed Meta Business Manager accounts, which companies use to buy ads on Facebook and Instagram, along with the lines of credit attached to them. He then sold access to advertising companies. The real account holders were billed for ads they never bought, and when Meta discovered the fraud, it refunded them and absorbed the loss.
Iza’s companies took in about $37 million from 2020 through 2022, according to federal prosecutors.
He never filed corporate tax returns on the money. Iza hid his ownership of his company, Zort, had a co-schemer buy personal items for him and moved income into cryptocurrency, costing the IRS about $13.3 million.
During the same period, from August 2021 to April 2022, Iza hired off-duty sheriff’s deputies as personal security. According to his plea agreement, the deputies helped him obtain confidential law enforcement information, personal data on people he had disputes with, and court-authorized search warrants to track down and harass them. Five now-former deputies stand convicted of federal crimes.
The most serious case involved Michael David Coberg, an LASD helicopter pilot whom Iza paid at least $20,000 a month as a business partner and adviser. In October 2021, Coberg stood watch over a victim while Iza made him transfer $127,000 to an account Iza controlled, according to court documents. Coberg also arranged the sham drug arrest of an Iza adversary in Paramount, a city that contracts with the Sheriff’s Department for policing, with a traffic stop that former Deputy Christopher Michael Cadman helped carry out. Afterward, Coberg texted Cadman to thank him.
“The kid enjoyed it,” wrote Coberg, referring to Iza.
Coberg is serving 63 months. Eric Chase Saavedra, a former deputy and federal task force officer whose company, Saavedra & Associates, hired deputies to guard Iza, was sentenced Sept. 28 to 21 months.
Saavedra used his law enforcement powers to obtain search warrants used to intimidate and harass Iza’s adversaries, prosecutors said.
Scott Allen Simpkins, who was assigned to LASD’s Lakewood Station, got 18 months for obstructing the federal investigation into Iza’s extortion of $25,000 from a party planner at his Bel Air mansion. Cadman was sentenced to 21 months.
David Anthony Rodriguez, who also worked security for Iza, got a year for submitting a false search warrant application on behalf of a different client.
The FBI and IRS Criminal Investigation led the case, with help from the Sheriff’s Department.
Iza’s associate, Iris Rabaya Au of Irvine, was sentenced Sept. 21 to 18 months for filing a false tax return. She was ordered to pay $1.48 million in restitution and to forfeit a fleet of luxury cars, designer handbags and three “Godfather” sculptures.
