Asians behaving badly... Elderly embezzlement edition! Last week in Orange County, a financial planner was sentenced to 18 years in jail for stealing $2.8 million from 33 clients in a tax-free bond scheme: Man gets 18 years for embezzling from elderly.57-year-old Hitomi Tsuyuki pleaded guilty in September to 29 felony counts, including the use of untrue statements in the sale of a security, theft from an elder and grand theft. Nearly all of his victims were elderly investors who attended his father's church:
Over a year starting in late 1997, Tsuyuki took the money from his clients, nearly all of them elderly, by persuading them to invest in bonds, but with the intention of keeping the money himself, prosecutors said.At the sentencing hearing, the judge read statements from several of Tsuyuki's victims, many of whom had known him since he was a child. Have fun in prison, ya scumbag. More here: Hitomi Tsuyuki Gets 18 Years for $2.8 Million Scam; He'd Known Some Victims Since He Was a Child.
Many of the victims had known Tsuyuki since he was a child and attended the Konko Church in Los Angeles, where his father was a minister.
He targeted victims who trusted him, including those recently widowed or in need of help because of memory loss and early signs of dementia, prosecutors said.
Tsuyuki used the victims' money for personal expenses after they invested in a made up tax-free municipal bond scheme or to purchase interest in a money-market account.
He spent the money on his home in Coto de Caza, a vacation property in Mammoth, a golf club membership and on cars, the news release said.