{"id":103350,"date":"2019-04-19T10:47:33","date_gmt":"2019-04-19T17:47:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/?p=103350"},"modified":"2019-04-19T10:48:28","modified_gmt":"2019-04-19T17:48:28","slug":"high-rolling-japanese-1-5-billion-ponzi-schemers-extradited-to-us","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/high-rolling-japanese-1-5-billion-ponzi-schemers-extradited-to-us\/","title":{"rendered":"High-Rolling Japanese $1.5-Billion Ponzi Schemers Extradited to US"},"content":{"rendered":"

Two former executives of Las Vegas-based investment company MRI International — an alleged $1.5 billion Ponzi scheme<\/a> — have been extradited to the US from Japan, the DOJ announced Thursday.<\/p>\n

\"MRI
The former Tokyo office of MRI International, where the Suzukis were based. The company was exposed as an alleged Ponzi scheme that defraud more than 10,000 people. (Image: Yuya Shino\/Reuters)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Prosecutors allege that Japanese nationals Junzo Suzuki, 70, and Paul Suzuki, 40 \u2013 along with Edwin Fujinaga<\/a>, 72, who was convicted of fraud and money-laundering in November \u2013 lived the life of high-rolling gamblers by defrauding thousands of mainly Japanese citizens from 2009 to 2013.<\/p>\n

The Suzukis, who are father and son, were charged with eight counts each of mail fraud and nine counts each of wire fraud in a July 2015 indictment. They were arrested by Japanese authorities in January 2019 at the request of the DOJ.<\/p>\n

Sleaze Factoring<\/strong><\/h2>\n

According to the indictment, Junzo Suzuki was executive VP of Asia Pacific for MRI International (MRI), while Paul Suzuki was the company\u2019s general manager for Japan operations.<\/p>\n

\n

They are accused of soliciting money from over 10,000 investors in Japan and other countries, while falsely claiming the money would fund the purchase of unpaid US medical accounts at discount prices.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Investors were told MRI would then attempt to recover the entire amount – or at least more than the discounted amount — from the debtor, a process known as \u201cfactoring.\u201d They were hoodwinked by glossy promotional brochures and advertising campaigns in respected business magazines that promised high returns on medium-term investments.<\/p>\n

Gambling, Jets, and Mansions<\/strong><\/h2>\n

But the whole thing is alleged to have been a massive Ponzi scheme that came crashing down around 2013. According to the indictment, the defendants used new investment funds to pay older investors, while squandering millions on \u201cgambling habits \u2026 personal travel by private jet and other personal expenses.\u201d<\/p>\n

Fujinaga splurged his ill-gotten gains on a mansion on a Las Vegas golf course and real estate in Beverly Hills, California wine country, and Hawaii, as well luxury cars – Bentleys, McLarens, and Bugattis.<\/p>\n

\u201cThese indictments are a reminder of the FBI\u2019s determination to identify, investigate and bring to justice those who are committing financial crimes against innocent consumers,\u201d said Special Agent in Charge Laura Bucheit. \u201cWe are appreciative of the continued support we receive from our international, federal, state and local law enforcement partners.\u201d<\/p>\n

A Nevada jury took less than three hours to find the Fujinaga guilty last year. He is due to be sentenced on May 29. The Suzukis are due to make their first court appearance in Nevada on Friday.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Two former executives of Las Vegas-based investment company MRI International — an alleged $1.5 billion Ponzi scheme — have been extradited to the US from Japan, the DOJ announced Thursday. Prosecutors allege that Japanese nationals Junzo Suzuki, 70, and Paul Suzuki, 40 \u2013 along with Edwin Fujinaga, 72, who was convicted of fraud and money-laundering […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":36,"featured_media":103353,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[21,10],"tags":[],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nJapanese High-Rolling $1.5 Billion Ponzi Schemers Extradited to US<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Two Japanese MRI International execs have been extradited to the US over the alleged Las Vegas-based Ponzi scheme that defrauded investors of $1.5 billion.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"noindex, follow\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Japanese High-Rolling $1.5 Billion Ponzi Schemers Extradited to US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Two Japanese MRI International execs have been extradited to the US over the alleged Las Vegas-based Ponzi scheme that defrauded investors of $1.5 billion.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/high-rolling-japanese-1-5-billion-ponzi-schemers-extradited-to-us\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Casino.org\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/Casino.OrgNews\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2019-04-19T17:47:33+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2019-04-19T17:48:28+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/MRI.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1200\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"786\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Philip Conneller\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@casinoorgphilc\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@Casino_Org\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Philip Conneller\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/high-rolling-japanese-1-5-billion-ponzi-schemers-extradited-to-us\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/high-rolling-japanese-1-5-billion-ponzi-schemers-extradited-to-us\/\",\"name\":\"Japanese High-Rolling $1.5 Billion Ponzi Schemers Extradited to US\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/high-rolling-japanese-1-5-billion-ponzi-schemers-extradited-to-us\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/high-rolling-japanese-1-5-billion-ponzi-schemers-extradited-to-us\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/MRI.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2019-04-19T17:47:33+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2019-04-19T17:48:28+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/58769b72851c8cf117fb58ca150ebf8b\"},\"description\":\"Two Japanese MRI International execs have been extradited to the US over the alleged Las Vegas-based Ponzi scheme that defrauded investors of $1.5 billion.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/high-rolling-japanese-1-5-billion-ponzi-schemers-extradited-to-us\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/high-rolling-japanese-1-5-billion-ponzi-schemers-extradited-to-us\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/high-rolling-japanese-1-5-billion-ponzi-schemers-extradited-to-us\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/MRI.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/MRI.jpg\",\"width\":1200,\"height\":786,\"caption\":\"The former Tokyo office of MRI International, where the Suzukis were based. 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