The Securities and Exchange Commission today announced an emergency action to freeze the assets of a Las Vegas-based firm and its sole owner charged with perpetrating a Ponzi scheme against thousands of investors living primarily in Japan.
The SEC alleges that Edwin Fujinaga and his company MRI International raised more than $800 million from investors who were told that their money would be used to buy accounts from U.S. medical providers with outstanding balances to collect from insurance companies. Fujinaga and MRI falsely represented that they purchased the accounts at a discount so they could recover the full amount and turn a profit for investors. They purchased no such accounts in reality, and merely used investor money to pay the principal and interest due to earlier investors in typical Ponzi fashion. Investor funds also were used to buy luxury cars and pay Fujinaga’s credit card bills, alimony, and child support.
via SEC.gov