Notorious Airbnb Host Charged with Allegedly Running $8.5M Nationwide Scam | Shray Goel is charged with running an Airbnb scam across 100 U.S. properties.::Shray Goel is charged with running an Airbnb scam across 100 U.S. properties.
Best part of the article:
“Goel’s scheme was uncovered in an in-depth investigation by reporter Allie Conti in 2019, who detangled the plot after being double-booked at one of his properties in Chicago and receiving a suspicious last-minute cancellation. Conti was contacted by the FBI days after the article was published.”
I wish there was more of this. Good investigative journalism has been one of the most powerful weapons in justice, and I fear it’s diminishing rapidly.
Investigative journalism died the day the local newspapers stopped selling their local markets and became megaphones of a few nationwide companies owned by the same politically well connected donors.
And yes I fucking salivate everytime I read one of these articles.
The FBI doesn’t fuck around.
for allegedly masterminding a nationwide scam that systematically double-booked guests to rake in profits.
Goel would set up separate listings for the same property at different prices, according to the indictment, then cancel the lower-priced rental with excuses about bad plumbing…If Goel is convicted, the government could force him to forfeit all of the properties, according to the indictment.
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Is anything like that on the table here, legally?
I mean, is this something that would lead to the properties being seized, or would he just be fined and maybe just have to sell or have the bank claim them?
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And sold at bottom dollar to whatever company lines the pockets fastest.
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I’m sure those people will provide that housing to at risk people free of charge until they can get back on their feet
💋
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I didn’t read closely enough, thanks
No one should be able to Airbnb out or own 100 properties
Capitalism breeds innovation!
The innovation:
What does building an AI company “to revolutionize memoir sharing” even mean? He seems like the kind of guy to approach you with a “million dollar idea” for the worst app you’ve every heard of that will pay you in exposure.
The linked in-depth article by Allie Conti was a good read too. I would’ve done a charge-back, regardless of the blow back. Fuck AirBnB - they should be complicit in this.
There was a shooting near my house on New years Eve, someone rented an AirBNB to throw a party and a rival gang member did a driveby. This could be your neighbors…
Some localities have written new code to address these kinds of issues.
Which is a good way to deal with these problems - locally. Then any owner of multiple dwellings has to fight the local councils in every location. This makes it much more difficult for them, while also keeping regulation in local hands.
It’s not perfect, my council has done some really good things, and also made some unfortunate decisions. But they’re responsible to me and my neighbors, not someone in DC.
I’m in a fairly large city so hotel chains have been fighting AirBNB for a while calling it temporary housing, and needs similar regulations a hotel // casinos have to abide by. This has given them a lot of fuel for that fire.
If you go back to the original reporting that started the investigation, he was doing this with Airbnb’s approval because they didn’t do anything about it. I actually like using airbnb, I hope they go after them to hunker down on not letting this happen as well.
@vampire survivors: An individual rented an Airbnb property to host a party, and an opposing gang member carried out a drive-by shooting.
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