Former Girlfriend of LA ‘Godfather’ Agrees to Plead Guilty Over $2.6M Tax Fraud

Iris Ramaya Au, the ex-girlfriend of crypto entrepreneur Adam Iza, who glided by the alias “The Godfather,” has agreed to plead responsible to federal tax prices. 

In a plea filed Tuesday, Au, 35, admitted to failing to report over $2.6 million in “ill-gotten features” derived from her ex-boyfriend’s sprawling felony operations. 

Au now faces as much as three years in federal jail for her function in facilitating Iza’s fraudulent actions, as per the U.S. Lawyer’s Workplace of Central District of California’s statement.

From 2020 to 2023, Au used shell firms and illicitly obtained funds to finance a lavish way of life alongside Iza, together with luxurious automobiles, actual property, and crypto. 

Au’s settlement with the Division of Justice revealed she transferred illicit funds into her private accounts, failing to report this earnings to the Inner Income Service. 

Prosecutors allege she was conscious of the origin of the funds.

In September 2024, Iza, 24, was arrested and charged with conspiracy, wire fraud, and tax evasion, all linked to a collection of felony actions stretching over a number of years. 

Over the course of their scheme, the couple spent roughly $10 million on luxurious leisure actions, and Iza acquired $16 million in crypto with the fraudulent funds, prosecutors mentioned.

The crypto godfather’s felony profession peaked when he used his platform, Zort, a crypto buying and selling platform, to hold out large-scale fraud, together with defrauding Meta of $37 million by manipulating Fb promoting accounts. 

Authorities allege Iza additionally stole important quantities of crypto by participating in violent actions, together with a failed residence invasion in 2022.

In 2018, he allegedly impersonated the FBI to steal crypto at gunpoint, holding a sufferer and his girlfriend hostage whereas demanding laptop computer passwords.

In January, the crypto felony pled guilty to conspiracy, wire fraud, and tax evasion.

In his plea, Iza admitted to utilizing off-duty Los Angeles County Sheriff’s deputies to harass his enterprise rivals and have interaction in illegal actions, together with fabricating search warrants. 

One of many deputies, Eric Chase Saavedra, can also be going through prices, over allegations he misused his place to help Iza in intimidating victims and stealing confidential regulation enforcement knowledge.

Iza now faces as much as 35 years in jail, after allegedly counting on extortion, fraud, and systemic abuse of energy.

Au, who aided in laundering the proceeds, has agreed to cooperate with authorities and will probably be sentenced alongside Iza later this yr, with the latter’s listening to scheduled for June 16.

Edited by Sebastian Sinclair