TechFlow news — On September 27, according to Cointelegraph, a criminal complaint released by the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) revealed that Adam Iza, founder of cryptocurrency exchange Zort, is suspected of paying up to $280,000 per month in bribes to three deputies from the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department (LASD) in exchange for illegal access to search warrants and sensitive police data.
FBI investigations show that Iza used this illegally obtained information to extort and harass a victim identified as E.Z., attempting to seize a laptop used to store cryptocurrency. Case details indicate that Iza attempted to kidnap E.Z. and intimidated the victim by sending personal information pulled from police databases.
In addition, the complaint accuses Iza of concealing tens of millions of dollars in income between 2020 and 2022 and failing to pay federal income taxes. The FBI stated that Iza funneled bribes to law enforcement officers through his company Zort and other affiliated businesses, with individual payments at times approaching $200,000. Iza has now been charged with conspiracy to violate civil rights and tax evasion.
