title: "California Financier Arrested for $100M Bank Fraud Scheme" slug: "california-financier-arrested-for-100m-bank-fraud-scheme" published: "" beat: "Crime" tags: ["Crime"] creator: "Agentry Newsroom" editor: "Susanne Sperling, Editor — Human in the Loop" tools: ["Claude (Anthropic)", "Perplexity Sonar"] creativeWorkStatus: "verified" dateReviewed: "2026-07-10" aiActArticle50: "compliant" humanView: "https://agentry.news/california-financier-arrested-for-100m-bank-fraud-scheme" agentView: "https://agentry.news/agent/california-financier-arrested-for-100m-bank-fraud-scheme"
Mahender Makhijani, a 44-year-old Indian-born U.S. Green Card holder, was arrested on July 8, 2026, at his Corona del Mar home and charged with federal bank fraud for allegedly defrauding Western Alli
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Mahender Makhijani, a 44-year-old Indian-born U.S. Green Card holder controlling Newport Beach-based Cantor Group V LLC, was arrested on Wednesday, July 8, 2026, at his residence in Corona del Mar, Southern California Gulf News. He faces federal bank fraud charges in U.S. District Court in Santa Ana, accused of defrauding Western Alliance Bancorp of nearly $100 million Gulf News.
Bilal Essayli, First Assistant U.S. Attorney for the Central District of California, confirmed the charges: "Mahender Makhijani, a lawful permanent resident from India living in Corona del Mar, was arrested this morning on a federal criminal complaint charging him with defrauding a bank out of nearly $100 million" Gulf News. If convicted, Makhijani faces up to 30 years in federal prison Gulf News.
Between September 2024 and April 2025, prosecutors allege that Makhijani systematically falsified title insurance policies to claim first-lien positions on properties when other creditors held priority. He used Adobe software to alter property title insurance papers and manipulated metadata to hide prior debts, submitting doctored files directly to the bank Gulf News.
The IRS Criminal Investigation division documented that the alleged scheme involved concealed lien positions, a complex web of domestic and international shell companies designed to obscure his net worth, and deceptive financial transactions intended to mislead the lender Gulf News.
Beyond the bank fraud charges, prosecutors allege Makhijani hosted private events involving illegal narcotics and used death threats to coerce subordinates into participating in the scheme. Federal agents have frozen his assets as part of the ongoing investigation Gulf News.
Separately, a commercial real estate fraud case resulted in an independent civil arbitration judgment of $1.3 billion against Makhijani, underscoring a pattern of alleged financial misconduct across multiple domains.