The United States arrested five international fugitives, including a Nigerian-Canadian, Tunde Benak, for allegedly orchestrating a massive fr@ud scheme in Germany.
The arr%st 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 defrauded thousands of victims 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 arrested 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 arrested by the U.S. Marshals Service and made their initial appearances in federal court today.”
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.
