LOS ANGELES — Five alleged international fugitives living in Southern California have been arrested at the request of Germany, where they are charged for their suspected roles in a fraud scheme involving the creation of recurring bogus debit or credit card charges from fictitious merchants, officials announced today.

Medhat Mourid, of Woodland Hills; Andrew Garroni, of Los Angeles; Guy Mizrachi, of Agoura Hills; Ardeshir Akhavan, of Irvine; and Tunde Benak, of Irvine, were arrested by the U.S. Marshals Service and made their initial appearances in federal court in downtown Los Angeles on Wednesday, according to the U.S. Department of Justice.

Authorities said they would act to extradite the defendants to Germany.

According to German authorities, the defendants allegedly orchestrated a s

See Full Page