A US federal grand jury has indicted the CEO of a Las Vegas investment company MRI International and two of his former Asia-based executives in an alleged $1.5bn ponzi scheme.
Edwin Fujinaga of Las Vegas; Junzo Suzuki of Tokyo; and Paul Suzuki of Tokyo, were charged in an indictment with eight counts of mail fraud and nine counts of wire fraud. Fujinaga is also charged with three counts of money laundering.
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US prosecutors said the defendants solicited more than $1.5bn, mainly from Japanese residents, from 2009 to 2013 by promised investors a series of interest payments that would accrue over the life of the investment.
The defendants also promised the money would be used only for the purchase of medical accounts receivable (MARS) and would be managed and safeguarded by an independent escrow company.
The prosecutors also accused them of using investor money to repay earlier investors and also to pay for gambling, travelling by private jet and other personal expenses.
US assistant attorney of Justice Department’s criminal division General Caldwell said: "The defendants allegedly preyed on thousands of unsuspecting Japanese victims to enrich themselves by operating a billion-plus dollar Ponzi scheme.
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By GlobalDataUS Attorney Daniel Bogden said: "These defendants are accused of using a Nevada corporation to conduct their $1.5 billion fraud scheme and falsely telling thousands of overseas victims that their investments would be safely held and managed by an independent, third-party escrow agent in Nevada."
