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.
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.
The U.S. Marshals Service for the Central District of California @rrested the fugitives in the United States contemporaneously with @rrests and/or searches in Germany, Italy, Luxembourg, Spain, Cyprus, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, Canada and Singapore.
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.
The NMDPRA was listed as the first defendant, while the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited, AYM Shafa Limited, A.A. Rano Limited, T. Time Petroleum Limited, 2015 Petroleum Limited, and Matrix Petroleum Services Limited were also joined in the suit.
At Wednesday’s hearing, Dangote’s counsel, C.O. Adegbe, informed the court that the refinery had filed a notice of discontinuance on July 28 after all parties agreed that the case should be struck out.
Presiding Judge Mohammed Umar subsequently dismissed the suit following submissions from Adegbe and the defence counsel.
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