A 44-year-old Indian-American man was arrested in California for allegedly defrauding a bank of nearly $100 million by manipulating title records of insurance policies. According to reports from Business Standard, Mahender Makhijani has been living in the US on a Green Card and faces a maximum sentence of 30 years in prison if convicted. The arrest was announced by Bilal Essayli, First Assistant US Attorney for the Central District of California, who stated that the arrest highlighted his office's continued determination to combat threats to the nation's banking system. As per US News, federal agents arrested Makhijani during a raid at his California mansion in the upscale enclave of Corona del Mar. Makhijani was scheduled to make his initial appearance in U.S. District Court in Santa Ana on June 10, 2026.
Court documents reveal that Makhijani engaged in a ruthless campaign of terror against business rivals, including deploying armed thugs to seize properties and intimidate competitors. According to The California Post, around the time of the bank fraud scheme, Makhijani allegedly used armed individuals working on behalf of him to enter and take control of numerous properties operated by Mohammad Honarkar, including the Hotel Laguna, a Holiday Inn Hotel in Laguna Beach, and several other vacation rentals. The conflict at these hotels led to both being temporarily closed for business by the Laguna city manager. Makhijani also allegedly used armed thugs to seize physical control of a restaurant called Terra operated by Honarkar, with documents stating his henchmen broke into offices and took financial documents from workers. As reported by The California Post, Makhijani hired a mobile billboard in 2023 to humiliate Honarkar, with the documents stating that mobile billboards depicting Honarkar and others' faces were driven around Laguna Beach, suggesting they were engaged in corruption.
As alleged by authorities, Makhijani falsified title insurance records, concealed true lien positions, and used a network of shell companies to mislead a federally insured bank out of nearly $100 million. According to Darren Lian, Acting Special Agent in Charge of IRS Criminal Investigation's Los Angeles Field Office, their special agents followed the money through layered transfers and disguised accounts, uncovering a scheme designed to deceive at every turn. The fraud involved manipulating documents and abusing financial systems for personal gain, with prosecutors alleging that fake title records made loan collateral appear stronger and exposed the lender to losses. Federal authorities allege that Makhijani and a subordinate used Adobe software to forge documents, alter metadata, and submit the falsified records to the bank. Prosecutors further claim that misleading explanations were provided to the bank through phone calls and spreadsheets to conceal the alleged fraud.
According to an affidavit filed with the complaint, Makhijani controls Cantor Group V LLC, a Newport Beach-based company with a lending relationship with the Bank. Under their agreement terms, the Bank advanced nearly $100 million to Cantor to originate or buy loans secured by real estate. Cantor was supposed to then pledge the loans it secured, and their underlying collateral, to the Bank, paying back the bank from the loans' proceeds. As reported by US News, Makhijani controlled Cantor Group V LLC, which had a lending arrangement with the bank that advanced nearly $100 million for real-estate-secured loans under the condition that only first-lien loans were pledged as collateral.
Makhijani faced severe consequences in civil court, with an arbitrator finding him liable for more than $1.3 billion in damages over his real estate dealings with Laguna Beach businessman Mohammad Honarkar. According to The California Post, Honarkar won a judgment of $1.34 billion after an arbitrator found Makhijani fraudulently induced him in business dealings. The amount awarded Honarkar included $652 million in punitive damages, $326 million in compensatory damages, and an additional $350 million awarded on behalf of the joint venture once operated by the pair, which is currently in receivership. Attorney Aaron May of Halpern May Ybarra Gelberg, who represented Honarkar, said the arbitrator found that Makhijani's behavior was willful and malicious and deserving of extraordinary punitive damages. The arbitrator sat through weeks of evidence and testimony before reaching this conclusion.
