OKLAHOMA CITY– An Oklahoman who has been on the lam for nearly 14 years after his conviction on mail fraud and money laundering charges has been arrested and extradited, Western Oklahoma District U.S. Attorney Robert J. Troester announced.
Mehran Koranki, 63, formerly of Yukon, was returned to the United States from England.
Koranki fled the U.S. in 2010 after his criminal conviction at trial.
A federal grand jury returned a 53-count indictment against Koranki in February 2010, charging him with numerous counts of mail fraud and money laundering in a $6 million scheme.
Between February 2005 and March 2006, Koranki owned and controlled two Oklahoma City companies (SMC Electronics and Allied Solutions Technical Center) which maintained, repaired, and sold computer networking components.
Both companies had extended warranty agreements with Nortel Networks that allowed businesses with Nortel computer systems to receive replacements for broken or defective parts. Those agreements required the businesses to use replacement parts in their own Nortel systems and forbade them from selling replacement parts to third parties.
Evidence presented during a jury trial in November 2010 showed that SMC lied when it claimed it needed more than 850 replacement parts over a 15-month period; SMC did not even use a Nortel computer network. The company received hundreds of thousands of dollars’ worth of equipment through the warranty agreement, which they then sold for a profit in direct violation of the agreement.
After four days of testimony, the jury found Koranki guilty of 48 counts of mail fraud and two counts of money laundering.
Prior to his sentencing hearing Koranki fled the country. In January 2011 he sent a letter to the court that read in part, “I sincerely regret to inform you I am no longer in the United States and will not be attending the sentencing hearing.” Koranki has been a fugitive since that time.
U.S. District Judge Timothy D. DeGiusti sentenced Koranki in absentia to serve 156 months (13 years) in federal prison and ordered him to pay $6,010,158 in restitution.
In November 2015, the United States submitted to United Kingdom government officials an official request to extradite Koranki. He was arrested Feb. 5, 2024, pursuant to an INTERPOL Red Notice, after traveling on a flight from Doha, Qatar, to Manchester in northwestern England.
Koranki subsequently consented to extradition, and on June 3 the U.S. Marshal’s Service transported him back to the United States.
“No matter how far you run, or how long you hide, the U.S. Marshals Service will exhaust all available resources in returning international fugitives to face justice in the United States,” federal Marshal Johnny L. Kuhlman said. “The arrest and extradition of this defendant is further proof of the U.S. Marshals’ ongoing commitment to locating fugitives around the world. The bottom line is we never stop looking.”