WASHINGTON, D.C. — MRI International's (MRI) former CEO and President Edwin Fujinaga will face sentencing on March 8, 2019, after being found guilty of participating in over $1 billion in fraudulent investments by a jury in the U.S. District Court for the District of Nevada court.
According to the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ), Fujinaga, who ran MRI's international medical collections company, oversaw a $1.5 billion Ponzi scheme by soliciting investments from more than 10,000 Japanese investors with a promise stated in marketing materials that the funds would be used to buy "medical claims." Fujinaga actually used the majority of the investor's funds to pay "old investors" and on personal items such as a private jets luxury cars and real estate in Beverly Hills, Hawaii and Las Vegas, the DOJ said.
The jury found Fujinaga guilty of eight counts of mail fraud, nine counts of wire fraud and three counts of money laundering, according to the DOJ.
MRI, with locations in Las Vegas, and Tokyo, owed investors the $1.5 billion as of April 2013 when the Japanese government revoked the company's securities marketing license, the DOJ said.