U.S. Arrests Nigerian and 4 other Suspects Wanted in Germany for €300 Million Fraud Scheme

Federal authorities in the United States have arrested five individuals—including Nigerian-Canadian national Tunde Benak—who are accused by German prosecutors of running an extensive payment-processing fraud that allegedly stole more than €300 million from thousands of victims.

The arrests, carried out in California at Germany’s request, were announced Wednesday, November 5, 2025, by the U.S. Department of Justice. Acting Assistant Attorney General Matthew Galeotti, First Assistant U.S. Attorney Bill Essayli, and U.S. Marshals Service Director Gadyaces S. Serralta jointly confirmed the operation.

According to the DOJ, the suspects were located and detained as part of U.S. obligations under its extradition treaty with Germany. The group includes four California residents—Medhat Mourid of Woodland Hills, Andrew Garroni of Los Angeles, Guy Mizrachi of Agoura Hills, and Ardeshir Akhavan of Irvine—along with Benak, a Canadian citizen also living in Irvine. All five made initial court appearances following their arrest.

German investigators allege the defendants helped build a system of recurring, fraudulent credit and debit card charges disguised as transactions from non-existent online merchants. Authorities say the operators intentionally kept monthly charges below €50 to avoid alerting consumers. The payments allegedly flowed through shell companies and were processed by German payment firms whose insiders were complicit in the scheme.

German officials claim the operation effectively created an underground financial network within the country. Several former employees of the payment processors were arrested across Europe in coordinated raids.

The U.S. Department of Justice’s Office of International Affairs worked closely with German prosecutors and federal attorneys in California to ensure all legal requirements for the arrests and impending extradition were met.

The U.S. Marshals Service executed the arrests concurrently with operations in Germany and other nations, including Italy, Luxembourg, Spain, Cyprus, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, Canada, and Singapore.