Friday, November 7, 2025 - The United States @rrested five international fugitives, including a Nigerian-Canadian, Tunde Benak, for allegedly orchestrating a massive fr@ud scheme in Germany.
The @rrest was made at the request of the Federal Republic
of Germany, which has charged the individuals for their roles in a network
involving German payment service processors that defr@uded thousands of v!ctims
of more than €300 million and created a shadow financial system in
Germany.
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 made the announcement in a press
statement issued by the U.S Department of Justice on Wednesday, November 5,
2025.
“Pursuant to its treaty obligations, the United States
located and @rrested the fugitives in the Central District of California for
ultimate extradition to Germany,” the statement read.
Four U.S. citizens residing in California — Medhat Mourid,
of Woodland Hills, Andrew Garroni, of Los Angeles, Guy Mizrachi, of Agoura
Hills, Ardeshir Akhavan, of Irvine — and Canadian National, Tunde Benak, of
Irvine, were @rrested by the U.S. Marshals Service and made their initial
appearances in federal court today."
Germany alleges that the fugitives defr@uded v!ctims in
violation of German law by creating millions of recurring, fr@udulent debit or
credit card charges from fictitious merchants.
According to German authorities, the defendants orchestrated
a scheme in which they deliberately kept monthly charges on credit cards to
below €50, to avoid suspicion among v!ctims about the nature of the charges.
These charges were linked to fictitious companies using fictitious websites
that were only accessible via direct links or URL’s.
The operators of the network then colluded with German
payment service processors – including their executives and compliance officers
– to process these payments.
Former employees and executives of German payment processors
are among those @rrested yesterday. German authorities allege that this complex
scheme resulted in the creation of a shadow financial system in Germany.
In the United States, the Department of Justice’s Office of
International Affairs (OIA), the U.S. government’s central authority in
cr!minal matters, worked closely with German officials and the U.S. Attorney’s
Office for the Central District of California to provide legal guidance and
coordinate the successful @rrest of the U.S.-based defendants.
OIA participated in coordination meetings related to the
takedown and worked directly with the German prosecutor to ensure Germany met
U.S. legal requirements to @rrest these fugitives with a view toward
extradition.
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