On January 27, 2026, the Securities and Exchange Commission charged two former senior executives of Near Intelligence, Inc., a now-defunct global data intelligence company, Anil Mathews, its former Chief Executive Officer, and Rahul Agarwal, its former Chief Financial Officer, for allegedly inflating revenue in a financial accounting and disclosure fraud scheme involving Near’s largest customer, MobileFuse, LLC. MobileFuse and its former Chief Executive Officer, Kenneth M. Harlan, were charged with aiding and abetting the alleged fraud.
The SEC’s complaint alleges that from May 2021 to September 2023, Mathews and Agarwal engaged in a round-trip accounting scheme to overstate Near’s reported revenue by on average 27% for fiscal years 2021 and 2022 and the first two quarters of 2023. According to the complaint, the scheme—which relied, in part, on Near and MobileFuse exchanging grossly inflated invoices, and Near recognizing revenue according to its invoices to MobileFuse—accounted for at least $37.3 million of improperly reported revenue. As alleged, the defendants fabricated documents or made misstatements to conceal the scheme from Near’s independent auditors. Harlan and MobileFuse allegedly provided substantial assistance to Mathews and Agarwal in perpetrating the scheme. The complaint further alleges that Mathews misappropriated over $300,000 from Near to pay for the rental of a luxury single family residence for him and his family and presented false invoices to conceal his misappropriation.
