A massive short-term rental scam has landed two men in hot water with the feds, shaking up the trust foundations of popular online lodging marketplaces like Airbnb and Vrbo. Shray Goel, 35, of Miami, and Shaunik Raheja, 34, of Denver, face charges of conspiracy to commit wire fraud, with Goel also staring down the barrel of aggravated identity theft accusations.
According to the indictment, these two men finessed over $8.5 million from the pockets of unsuspecting travelers, manipulating Airbnb and Vrbo listings across no less than 10 states. "This deplorable scheme victimized thousands of consumers and families across the country," U.S. Attorney Martin Estrada told NBC Miami. The crafty operation involved listing nearly 100 properties and conducting a supposed secret bidding war, leaving the lower bidders with the short end of the stick - transferred to lesser digs or out in the cold with their reservations callously cancelled.
Faye Barnouw, a regional director with the Federal Trade Commission, explained the operation as "a pretty big scam" that was "pretty well orchestrated." Goel and Raheja are accused of tripping up more than 10,000 reservations and discriminating against Black individuals in their seemingly lucrative scheme. The indictment tells of multiple Airbnb and Vrbo listings for the identical property, where allegedly these perpetrators would pick the highest bidder and ditch the rest using fraudulent excuses such as plumbing issues, as reported by FOX 10 Phoenix.
Released on bond after his Dec. 27 arrest, Goel responded to the indictment, calling for patience and withholding judgment in a statement quoted by NBC Miami, saying, "It's natural to form opinions based on what we hear and see, but 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." Attorney Michael G. Freedman, who represents Goel, shared a similar sentiment stating his client "fully denies the allegations and looks forward to defending against them in court."
Should the legal hammer come down hard, these allegations could lock up Goel and Raheja for up to 20 years a pop on fraud charges plus a mandatory two-year consecutive sentence for the aggravated identity theft Goel is on the hook for. As for Airbnb, they've taken a clear stance against the alleged fraudsters. The platform said in a statement obtained by FOX 10, "Airbnb is built on trust, and bad actors have no place in our community. We supported the US Attorney's Office and the FBI throughout their investigation to help ensure accountability, and we are thankful to them for their work."
