The Miami-based mogul who built a $150 million luxury hotel empire with the help of a string of investors has been charged with racketeering, authorities said Tuesday.
Shuhei Yoshimura, the chairman and CEO of the Mitsubishi Group, faces a number of charges including conspiracy, wire fraud, money laundering and racketeering.
The charges come days after he was named in a corruption investigation involving Mitsubishis investment in the luxury hotel chain.
Investigators say Yoshimura laundered millions of dollars through a series of companies that have since been dissolved or are defunct.
Yoshimura was arrested in January on charges that he helped the Chinese-based investment firm Sino-Tibetan Investment Holdings Ltd.
(STIHL) hide millions of pounds of profits from the company’s creditors.STIEL, which acquired a majority stake in the hotel chain in 2007, is now part of a group of China-based companies that are under investigation by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).
Yoshima, who has a fortune of about $1 billion, has denied the allegations.
The Shanghai-based conglomerate MitsubISHIS is the largest operator of hotels in China, with more than 10,000 hotels.
Mitsubishi is known for its luxury hotels in Tokyo, Paris, Amsterdam and Moscow.
In a statement Tuesday, the company said Yoshimura was “unaware of any of the company companies’ history and the facts surrounding the allegations against him.”
“As Mitsubishes sole owner, he does not hold any responsibility for Mitsubshinis decisions, and will not be held liable for the company,” the statement said.
Yoshiimura, who is the son of Japanese immigrants, was charged with conspiracy to defraud the company and wire fraud.
He also faces charges of money laundering.
Matsubishi said in a statement it had reached an agreement with authorities that he will be extradited to Japan for further investigation.MITSUBISHIS, which had about $25 billion in annual revenues, has a history of scandals.
In January, the U.S. Securities and Exchanges Commission accused the company of defrauding investors by selling stock without proper disclosure.
In 2015, Mitsubisha agreed to pay more than $1.5 billion to settle allegations of manipulation of foreign exchange rates.
The company has been hit by lawsuits alleging it improperly sold the rights to sell Mitsubushi brand products in the United States and Canada, which Mitsubashi said were intended for U.K. buyers.