The United States has arrested five international fugitives in Southern California at the request of the Federal Republic of Germany, which alleges the individuals were key players in a vast network that defrauded thousands of victims of more than $300 million and created a “shadow financial system” in Germany.
The U.S. Marshals Service located and arrested the five individuals in the Central District of California today, pursuant to treaty obligations, for ultimate extradition to Germany.
The Arrested Individuals
Among those arrested were four U.S. citizens residing in California and one Canadian national:
- Medhat Mourid, of Woodland Hills
- Andrew Garroni, of Los Angeles
- Guy Mizrachi, of Agoura Hills
- Ardeshir Akhavan, of Irvine
- Tunde Benak (Canadian National), of Irvine
All five made their initial appearances in federal court today. Former employees and executives of German payment processors are reportedly among those arrested.
Allegations of the Scheme
German authorities allege the fugitives orchestrated a sophisticated scheme to defraud victims by creating millions of recurring, fraudulent debit or credit card charges from fictitious merchants.
The network operators allegedly kept individual monthly charges to below €50 to avoid detection and suspicion among victims. These charges were linked to fictitious companies with websites only accessible via direct links or URLs.
The defendants are accused of then colluding with German payment service processors—including their executives and compliance officers—to process these massive volumes of fraudulent payments. Germany asserts that the complex nature of this scheme led to the creation of a shadow financial system within the country.
International Coordination
The announcement was made by Acting Assistant Attorney General Matthew Galeotti of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, First Assistant U.S. Attorney Bill Essayli of the Central District of California, and Director Gadyaces S. Serralta of the U.S. Marshals Service.
The U.S. Department of Justice’s Office of International Affairs (OIA) worked closely with German officials and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Central District of California to ensure Germany met all U.S. legal requirements for the arrests and subsequent extradition proceedings.
The arrests in the U.S. were conducted at the same time as arrests and/or searches in multiple other countries, including Germany, Italy, Luxembourg, Spain, Cyprus, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, Canada, and Singapore, highlighting the extensive international scope of the alleged criminal network.
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