Two men have been indicted for an alleged short-term rental scam Wednesday, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Central District of California stated.
The Justice Department has charged 35-year-old Shray Goel and 34-year-old Shaunik Raheja with orchestrating a sophisticated online rental fraud scheme that netted over $8.5 million, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Central District of California. The pair allegedly manipulated listings on popular platforms like Airbnb and Vrbo, using tactics that included double-booking and bait-and-switch scams, and even involved racially discriminatory practices against Black individuals.
The alleged fraud affected nearly 100 properties across 10 states and involved more than 10,000 reservations, the news release said. According to the charges, Goel and Raheja operated a rental business under various names, including Abbot Pacific LLC, and used this enterprise to defraud both the rental platforms and their users. The duo allegedly employed multiple listings for the same properties at different prices, canceling on lower-paying guests and redirecting them to less desirable accommodations. (RELATED: BETSY MCCAUGHEY: America, Don’t Fall For The Rent Control Scam)
Miami man indicted in $8.5M short-term rental scam with thousands of victims: Prosecutors. https://t.co/TOnKtJKNsH
— NBC 6 South Florida (@nbc6) January 4, 2024
Goel was initially charged Dec. and is currently out on bond. Raheja was later added as a defendant. Both men are expected to be arraigned in the United States District Court in Los Angeles soon.
Their scheme was not just financially motivated; it also included elements of racial discrimination, the press release noted. “Goel and Raheja made decisions about which guests to keep and which to cancel based in part on their racial prejudices and discrimination,” the indictment alleges, per the release.
“This deplorable scheme victimized thousands of consumers and families across the country, some of whom allegedly were discriminated against because of racial bias,” said United States Attorney Martin Estrada, per the release. “Fueled by greed, the defendants deceived consumers about the locations and conditions of properties, canceled reservations to double-book properties and based on racial prejudices, and lied to victims leaving them scrambling to find last-minute replacement accommodations.
In a post on X, Goel indirectly addressed the charges. “We often find ourselves at crossroads, faced with challenges we never expected. That’s where I am right now, and it’s a place that’s brought a lot of talk and judgment about who I am and what I’ve done,” Goel wrote. “I’m here today to ask you for something really important – to wait for the full story, to hold off on your judgment until all the facts are out there in the open, in the right legal setting.”