Two cousins from California and Colorado pleaded guilty Wednesday to federal charges stemming from a double-booking and bait-and-switch scheme carried out through online short-term rental platforms nationwide, the Justice Department announced.
Shray Goel, 37, of Calabasas, California, pleaded guilty to one count of wire fraud, while his cousin Shaunik Raheja, 36, of Denver, pleaded guilty to one count of obstruction of justice, according to court documents.
Prosecutors said the two men launched an online short-term rental business in 2013, listing properties under various company names — including Abbot Pacific LLC and Jet Set Work LLC — on multiple booking platforms. Their portfolio included properties in Marina del Rey, Venice, Malibu and San Diego, California, as well as Chicago, Cleveland, Dallas, Denver, Milwaukee, Bloomington and South Bend, Indiana, Savannah, Nashville, Austin and other cities.
The crux of the scheme, prosecutors said, was a double-booking, bait-and-switch practice aimed in part at maximizing profits. Goel and Raheja listed the same property multiple times — both on a single platform and across competing platforms — often at different daily rates, and rented to whichever guest booked at the highest price. They did not block calendars after a property was reserved, allowing duplicate bookings to accumulate.
In some cases, the defendants also used fake or nonexistent addresses, or addresses unaffiliated with them, to create duplicate listings for purported properties and evade local regulations.
When a guest could not be accommodated — including in overbooking situations or when the defendants chose not to host them — they provided false explanations, such as fabricated plumbing issues or other unforeseen problems, before canceling reservations, persuading guests to cancel, or switching them to different properties, according to the plea agreements. These last-minute changes often forced travelers to seek alternative lodging, sometimes at higher cost, and caused losses to both guests and rental platforms.
To avoid accountability, the defendants used fake host names and, in some instances, other people’s identities to post listings and conceal their involvement. They also fabricated positive reviews of their own properties and posted negative reviews targeting guests who complained. After one major platform banned them in 2015 because of repeated cancellations and complaints, they continued operating through fake accounts, prosecutors said. Listings with negative reviews were removed and reposted under new identifiers.
Raheja also admitted to lying to federal investigators in April 2023, falsely stating that he had never intentionally overbooked properties and was unaware of any such practice, according to his plea agreement.
U.S. District Judge Wesley L. Hsu scheduled Goel’s sentencing for Aug. 14, where he faces up to 20 years in federal prison. Raheja’s sentencing is set for Sept. 11; he faces a maximum of 10 years. The FBI and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation Office of Inspector General investigated the case, with assistance from the Federal Housing Finance Agency Office of Inspector General.
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