Father, son from Japan guilty in Vegas in $1.5B ‘Ponzi’ case

Two former investment executives from Japan have pleaded guilty in Las Vegas in what prosecutors have called a $1.5 billion international Ponzi scheme with 10,000 victims in the U.S. and abroad

LAS VEGAS — Two former investment executives from Japan have pleaded guilty in Las Vegas to wire fraud in what prosecutors have called a $1.5 billion international Ponzi scheme with 10,000 victims in the U.S. and abroad.

Junzo Suzuki and his son, Paul Suzuki, entered their pleas Wednesday in U.S. District Court in a plea deal that has each man facing five years in federal prison and three years of supervised release, according to court records.

Their pleas to one count of wire fraud avoided a trial that had been set to begin next month on 15 federal fraud charges. The father and son remain free under federal supervision pending sentencing May 11.

Attorneys Richard Wright and Junji Suzuki, representing the defendants, did not immediately respond Thursday to requests for comment on behalf of their clients. Junji Suzuki is not related to the defendants.

Prosecutors have compared the case involving Las Vegas-based MRI International Inc. with the biggest-ever U.S. fraud cases.

Junzo and Paul Suzuki were arrested in Japan in January 2019, two months after a federal jury in Las Vegas found their co-defendant, Edwin Fujinaga, guilty of 20 counts of mail fraud, wire fraud and…

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