An Orange County real estate investor charged with criminal fraud will remain in jail pending trial after a judge ruled he was a flight risk and had made death threats against a witness.<\/p>\n
Mahender Makhijani, 44, of Corona del Mar, accused of defrauding an Arizona bank of nearly $100 million, was denied bail Monday after a multiday hearing sought by federal prosecutors. He had previously been granted $500,000 bail.<\/p>\n
Makhijani, who was taken into custody June 10, has pleaded not guilty <\/a>to two felonies in a case involving a $100-million loan made by Phoenix-based Western Alliance Bank. <\/p>\n He also has been ordered by an arbitrator to pay $1.34 billion<\/a> to Laguna Beach real estate mogul Mohammad Honarkar in a separate civil fraud case.<\/p>\n \u201c[T]he Court finds there are no conditions of combination of conditions that will reasonably assure the Defendant\u2019s appearance and the safety of others and the community,\u201d U.S. Magistrate Judge Autumn Spaeth wrote in the ruling.<\/p>\n Makhijani is a dual citizen of India, where he has traveled recently and owns property, according to the decision.<\/p>\n Citing papers filed by prosecutors and hearing testimony, Spaeth said in her ruling that an associate of Makijani\u2019s, now cooperating with the government, had lied to the court in June about the source of funds for a $450,000 check to help the defendant make bail. <\/p>\n The judge noted that the associate, Deba Shyam, has had his car and house paid for by Makhijani, who \u201corchestrated\u201d the use of funds belonging to others for his bail bond.<\/p>\n Spaeth also ruled that Makhijani had lied about his drug use and threatened people in the past, including an Orange County bank employee who testified that he had received death threats to influence his court testimony.<\/p>\n