Fraudster impersonated Mansour family to peddle fake Airbnb equity – GallantCEO (2024)

When the prosecutor announced of plea bargain Late last week, Shamoon Rafiq executed a $10 million scheme to trick investors into buying into pre-IPO tech companies. airbnbThey are The defendant said he was posing as a representative of a prominent family office.

The family office is not named in the complaint, but But details in court filings and online records match Mansour family office, Man Capital.. Man Capital was founded in 2010 by billionaire Mohamed Mansour and his son Lautfi Mansour, one of three brothers who run Egypt’s second-largest company.

Rafiq had no relationship with Man Capital or its parent company. Mansour Group.conglomerate Founded in 1952 as a cotton exporter, it has since grown to become one of the world’s largest companies. general motors dealer and major caterpillar Wholesaler.

A Man Capital spokesperson declined to comment to CNBC, as did the Manhattan federal prosecutor’s office, which is prosecuting Mr. Rafiq.

Rafiq, 50, pleaded guilty Thursday to one count of conspiracy to commit securities fraud and wire fraud. He could be sentenced to up to five years in prison.

U.S. prosecutors say Rafiq, who was convicted of similar charges in 2001, ran a “brazen scheme” from Singapore in 2020 that saw tech IPOs hit the market at record levels and record valuations. He said he defrauded U.S. investors during the period when the company was

That summer, Rafiq allegedly created a fake domain name and email address posing as a senior executive at the family office.

According to prosecutors, Rafiq impersonated a close associate of the CEO of a family office, identified as Victim-1, and impersonated an executive of another family office, identified as Victim-2.

CNBC identifies Mann Capital as an anonymous family office through a series of details in the prosecutor’s complaint, including partial domain names and website details that exactly match Mann’s online presence. We were able to.

Lautfi Mansour’s title and tenure also match that of Unidentified Victim-1 in the complaint. The Mansour family publicly launched a family office in 2020, disclosed Stocks in Airbnb and other technology companies.

In 2020, Rafiq began systematically pitching to boutique investment banks and institutional investors. The year was marked by large IPOs by technology companies, including: snowflake, unity software and door dash, in addition to Airbnb. Rafiq claims to have access to the company’s pre-IPO stock, which could be a potentially lucrative opportunity given how much the stock can jump in value when it hits the public market. be.

In July 2020, an anonymous boutique investment bank in New York was introduced to Rafiq through another business associate of the bank’s partner. Rafiq, who claimed to be a close friend of the family office’s CEO, had offered to sell him $9 million worth of Airbnb Series C stock. Stocks did not exist.

Airbnb had announced plans to go public in 2019, but its listing was delayed due to the coronavirus pandemic. Reports surfaced in August 2020 that Airbnb was planning to secretly file for an IPO, shortly after Rafiq first spoke with investment banks. Four days after these reports, an unnamed investment bank agreed to buy the fictitious shares and transferred $9 million into an escrow account.

Airbnb ultimately held an IPO in December, and its stock price soared 112% on the first day.

Prosecutor’s first announcement Securities fraud, wire fraud and identity theft charges against Rafiq in 2021. He committed nearly the same crime 20 years ago, when he was also convicted of trying to sell pre-IPO stock. Google. Â

Inner City Press is a news organization covering the Southern District of New York. first reported Mr Rafiq was reportedly detained in January after being extradited from Singapore.

U.S. Attorney Audrey Strauss said, “Shamoun Rafiq exploited investors’ fears of missing out on the potential profits of investing in pre-public companies, and through brazen lies and deceit, he defrauded investors. They asked for millions of dollars.” statement At the time of billing in 2021.

Prosecutors said the bank froze $9 million in escrow funds and contacted an unnamed family office through a “trusted intermediary.” According to the complaint, attorneys at the family firm reported the scheme to law enforcement immediately after being alerted to it.

clock: Reddit listing will be ‘forced’ to find a way to profit