Pair indicted in alleged Airbnb, Vrbo rental property scam that netted $8.5 million
Two men accused of racking up more than $8.5 million in a scam run on the vacation rental sites Airbnb and Vrbo were indicted on fraud charges, federal prosecutors announced Thursday.
Two men accused of racking up more than $8.5 million in a scam run on the vacation rental sites Airbnb and Vrbo were indicted on fraud charges, federal prosecutors announced Thursday.
Shray Goel, 35, of Miami, and Shaunik Raheja, 34, of Denver, are accused of a “double-booking, bait-and-switch scam” connected to more than 10,000 reservations for properties across 10 states, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Central District of California said in a statement.
Goel and Raheja were charged in a superseding indictment Wednesday with conspiracy to commit wire fraud and 13 counts of wire fraud. Goel is also charged with two counts of aggravated identity theft, prosecutors said.
Goel, Raheja and their employees were managing about 100 properties throughout the country by 2019, prosecutors said. They collected about $7 million in payouts via about 10,000 reservations on Airbnb and about $1.5 million in reservations through Vrbo, prosecutors said.
The business used multiple names, including Abbot Pacific LLC, prosecutors said.
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