A California real estate investor was arrested for defrauding a bank out of nearly $100 million by falsifying title policies to inflate the value of his pledged collateral.
According to an affidavit filed with the complaint, Mahender Makhijani controls Cantor Group V LLC, a Newport Beach-based company with a lending relationship with a financial institution. While the US Attorney’s office only identified the lender as Bank #1, Bloomberg has identified it as Western Alliance Bancorp.
Under the terms of their agreement, the bank advanced nearly $100 million for Cantor to originate or buy loans secured by real estate. Cantor was supposed to pledge the loans it secured and their underlying collateral to the bank, paying back the bank from the loans’ proceeds.
As part of its due diligence to ensure Cantor had only pledged first lien-backed loans, the bank required Cantor to submit title insurance policies that showed Cantor’s first lien position. However, from September 2024 to April 2025, Makhijani presented Adobe-edited fraudulent title insurance policies to make it appear Cantor was in the first lien position with respect to certain real estate being used as collateral. Makhijani also lied about the title issues in several teleconferences with the bank’s representatives.
Had the bank known the true value of the collateral that Cantor had pledged, it would have considered Cantor to be in default and then demanded full and immediate repayment. After the fraud was discovered, the bank filed a lawsuit in Los Angeles Superior Court in August 2025.
If convicted, Makhijani would face a statutory maximum sentence of 30 years in federal prison.
“When criminals are allowed to deceive lenders, the spillover effects can harm consumers and businesses,” said First Assistant US Attorney Bill Essayli. “Today’s arrest highlights our office’s continued determination to combat threats to our nation’s banking system.”
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