U.S. Arrests Five Fugitives Wanted by Germany for Massive Fraud Scheme

The United States arrested five international fugitives 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 defrauded thousands of victims of more than €300 million and created a shadow financial system in Germany. Pursuant to its treaty obligations, the United States located and arrested the fugitives in the Central District of California for ultimate extradition to Germany.

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 arrested by the U.S. Marshals Service and made their initial appearances in federal court today.

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.

Germany alleges that the fugitives defrauded victims in violation of German law by creating millions of recurring, fraudulent 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 victims 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 arrested 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 criminal 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 arrest 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 arrest these fugitives with a view toward extradition.

The U.S. Marshals Service for the Central District of California arrested the fugitives in the United States contemporaneously with arrests and/or searches in Germany, Italy, Luxembourg, Spain, Cyprus, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, Canada and Singapore.