Short Term Rental Fraud - bait n switch

Shray Goel and Shaunik Raheja are indicted on federal fraud charges for running a double-booking, bait-and-switch scam through online rental platforms, including Airbnb, amassing over $8.5 million and involving discrimination against Black people. The scheme involved double-booking nearly 100 properties across 10 states, canceling overbooked guests with false excuses, and engaging in a secret bidding war, while also making racially biased rental decisions. The superseding indictment charges them with conspiracy to commit wire fraud and 13 counts of wire fraud, with Goel additionally facing aggravated identity theft charges, carrying a maximum penalty of 20 years for each fraud count and a mandatory two-year sentence for identity theft.