NEW YORK (CNN/Money) -
For some would-be Google investors, it was a deal too good to be true.
Federal prosecutors have charged a Dutch man of conning at least five people, including the unnamed CEO of a global telecom company, out of $2.8 million last fall with the promise of investing in Google "B" shares, according to the New York Times.
The problem, prosecutors say, is that Shamoon Rafiq didn't have access to Google shares, the company hadn't filed to sell shares to the public, and the man spent the money on strip clubs, restaurants and jewelry, the paper reported.
"This case is another lesson to be wary of anyone claiming to have the inside track on an opportunity that seems too good to be true," said U.S. attorney Roslynn Mauskopf in a statement, according to the Times.
Rafiq allegedly told the would-be investors that he attended Stanford University with Google's founders and worked for venture capital firm Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, which was an early Google investor. However, neither fact was true, prosecutors say, according to the Times.
Rafiq also told the people he could sell them "series B preferred stock" for $12 a share, through a friends and family program, the paper reported.
At the time, Google had not filed to sell shares to the public. It has subsequently filed for an initial public offering that may raise up to $2.7 billion for the Web search firm.
Rafiq has not been indicted nor has he entered a plea, but he is being held in a detention center in New York City's borough of Brooklyn, the paper reported. He was arrested outside his Manhattan apartment on March 5, the same day Martha Stewart was convicted in her obstruction of justice case.
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