An Indian-origin businessman based in California has been arrested on charges of allegedly defrauding a bank of nearly $100 million by submitting falsified documents that overstated the value of loan collateral, US federal prosecutors said.Mahender Makhijani, 44, a resident of Corona del Mar, was arrested on Wednesday on a criminal complaint charging him with bank fraud, according to the US Department of Justice.Prosecutors allege that Makhijani manipulated title insurance records and misrepresented the status of real-estate-backed loans pledged as collateral to a federally insured bank, exposing the lender to substantial financial losses.Mahender Makhijani, 44, a lawful permanent resident from India living in Corona del Mar, was arrested this morning on a federal criminal complaint charging him with defrauding a bank out of nearly $100 million.Makhijani controlled Cantor Group V LLC, a Newport Beach-based… pic.twitter.com/wEcSe5mQpW— F.A. United States Attorney Bill Essayli (@USAttyEssayli) June 10, 2026According to court documents, Makhijani controlled Newport Beach-based Cantor Group, which maintained a lending relationship with a bank identified in the complaint only as “Bank #1”.Under the arrangement, the bank advanced nearly $100 million to Cantor Group to originate or acquire real-estate-secured loans. In return, the company was required to pledge those loans and the underlying properties as collateral. The agreement stipulated that only loans secured by a first lien on the property could be pledged, as first-lien lenders have priority in recovering funds in the event of a default.Federal prosecutors allege that between September 2024 and April 2025, Makhijani falsified title insurance policies to make it appear that Cantor Group held first-lien positions on certain properties when other creditors actually had superior claims.Investigators further claim that Makhijani or an associate altered documents using Adobe software and then attempted to conceal the modifications by removing metadata and printing and rescanning the records before submitting them to the bank.The complaint also alleges that Makhijani provided misleading explanations to bank officials during conference calls and caused a spreadsheet containing false information about title discrepancies to be submitted to the lender in December 2024.In August 2025, the bank filed a lawsuit in Los Angeles Superior Court related to the alleged fraud. If convicted, Makhijani could face significant federal penalties. The investigation is ongoing.