Bellevue millionaire gets 5 years for iPhone fraud scheme which broke a bank

SEATTLE — A Bellevue man who financed a lavish lifestyle through a fraudulent cellphone shipping scheme has been sentenced to five years in prison.

Seattle U.S. Attorney Annette Hayes says 27-year-old Maziar Rezakhani's deception resulted in more than $3 million in losses to a small bank, Apple Inc. and shipping companies.

Federal prosecutors say Rezakhani repeatedly ordered thousands of Apple iPhones and claimed they had been stolen during shipment. He claimed the cellphones were stolen and replaced by tiles or pumice brick. Evidence showed that Rezakhani bought the tiles and bricks at local stores.

“This is the familiar story of unrelenting greed and lies winning out over hard work,” said U.S. Attorney Annette L. Hayes.

Prosecutors say Rezakhani also submitted false tax and bank records to get a multi-million line of credit at Bellevue's Foundation Bank. He took out $6.5 million in loans, using some to pay for a penthouse with a monthly rent of $25,000 and various luxury cars: a BMW, Ferrari Speciale, Ferrari Spider and a Mercedes-Benz.

He defaulted on $2.8 million, and the small bank was sold.

“This defendant could have had all the cars and fancy apartments he wanted by running an honest and successful business.  Instead, he deceived everyone in his path resulting in more than $3 million dollars of loss and a lot of innocent bank employees losing their jobs,” said Hayes.

In July, Rezakhani pleaded guilty to mail fraud, bank fraud and filing a false income tax return.