A Corona Del Mar financier who recently lost a $1.3 billion judgment to the owner of the Hotel Laguna was arrested by the U.S. Department of Justice for allegedly defrauding an undisclosed commercial bank out of nearly $100 million.
Mahender Makhijani, 44, faces a federal bank fraud charge after prosecutors revealed he allegedly used Adobe software to doctor title insurance documents and erased existing creditors to falsely convince the commercial bank that the real estate loans were secured by top-priority collateral.
“When criminals are allowed to deceive lenders, the spillover effects can harm consumers and businesses,” said First Assistant United States Attorney Bill Essayli in a news release. “Today’s arrest highlights our office’s continued determination to combat threats to our nation’s banking system.”
Makhijani was scheduled to make his first appearance in Santa Ana federal court on Wednesday afternoon. If convicted, he faces up to 30 years in federal prison.
Last month, an arbitrator ruled that Makhijani and his companies, Continuum Analytics and others, had broken agreements about financing and managing Hotel Laguna owner Mo Honarkar’s properties, many of which have since fallen into foreclosure or receivership.
