The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has alleged that Edwin Fujinaga, owner of Las Vegas-based MRI International Inc., has moved personal assets out of the United States in violation of a court-ordered asset freeze.
In a recent memorandum to the U.S. District Court of Nevada, the SEC said Fujinaga, charged with operating a Ponzi scheme that bilked over $800 million from Japanese investors, failed to provide documents reflecting his finances before and after the asset freeze order on Sept. 12.
"Meanwhile, it is fair to infer . . . that the defendants (including Fujinaga) have used this time to violate provisions of the asset freeze and probably to remove funds from easily detected domestic bank accounts," the SEC said.