Anil Mathews, Rahul Agarwal and Kenneth Harlan has been charged in an alleged accounting fraud scheme

Anil Mathews, Rahul Agarwal and Kenneth Harlan has been charged in an alleged accounting fraud scheme that overstated the revenues of Near Intelligence, Inc., Mobile Fuse LLC ahead of its acquisition by an investment vehicle, a special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) — which quickly ended in bankruptcy.

On Aug 7, 2025 an Indictment was unsealed, charging ANIL MATHEWS, RAHUL AGARWAL, and KENNETH HARLAN with conspiracy and securities fraud.
MATHEWS and AGARWAL were, respectively, the Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer of Near Intelligence, Inc. (“Near”), and HARLAN was the Chief Executive Officer of MobileFuse LLC (“MobileFuse”).

The charges in the Indictment arise from an alleged scheme to defraud investors in Near by fraudulently inflating the company’s revenue by approximately $25 million through a series of “round trip” transactions in which Near made inflated payments to MobileFuse, only for Mobile Fuse to pay the money back to Near.

MATHEWS and AGARWAL are also charged with wire fraud in connection with their separate schemes to embezzle money from Near, and MATHEWS is charged with aggravated identity theft in connection with his appropriation of the identities of others that he used to generate fake invoices to disguise his embezzlement.

Anil Mathews has fled to France and The United States is seeking his extradition. Rahul Agarwal, an Indian citizen and resident, is at large. Harlan was arrested on Aug 7, 2025.