Accountant behind Ponzi scam gets nearly 12 years

HONOLULU – A Maui accountant who led a long-running Ponzi scheme that cost his investors $8 million was sentenced Wednesday to serve nearly 12 years in federal prison without the possibility of parole.

Lloyd Y. Kimura used his business, Maui Industrial Loan and Finance Co., to attract investments since 1986, taking money collected from later customers to pay initial clients. He pleaded guilty in January.

Dressed in a white prison jumpsuit but without handcuffs, the 61-year-old apologized for his crimes.

“I’m sorry for what I’ve done, and I accept the ruling of the court,” Kimura told U.S. District Judge David Ezra.

Kimura, the brother of Hawaii County Prosecuting Attorney Jay Kimura, was ordered to repay his 50 victims the $8 million they lost.

His assets amount to only a fraction of the amount he owes, so at least 10 percent of his income must be paid to victims after he’s released from prison, Ezra said.

He was given 11 years, eight months in prison, a sentence on the high end of federal guidelines, which called for a prison term of between 10 years and 12.5 years.

Kimura’s sentence may have been higher if he hadn’t cooperated with authorities to repay his victims and accept guilt, Ezra and Assistant U.S. Attorney Ken Sorenson said.

Ezra said Kimura was motivated by “personal greed” when he lost his victims’ life savings and college savings, denying them comfortable retirements and the ability to provide educations for their children.

Maui man sentenced to 12 years for Ponzi scheme

A Maui accountant who led a long-running Ponzi scheme that cost his investors $8 million is being sentenced to serve nearly 12 years imprisonment without the possibility of parole.

U.S. District Judge David Ezra handed down the sentence Wednesday against 61-year-old Lloyd Y. Kimura, who previously pleaded guilty.

Kimura, the brother of Hawaii County Prosecuting Attorney Jay Kimura, told the judge he’s sorry for his crimes.

Kimura used his business, Maui Industrial Loan and Finance Co., to attract investments since 1986, with money collected by later customers used to pay initial clients.

Kimura was ordered to repay his 50 victims the $8 million they lost.

His assets amount to only a fraction of the amount he owes, so his income will be garnished after he’s released from prison.

Maui man sentenced to 12 years for Ponzi scheme – Hawaii News – Staradvertiser.com

Maui man pleads guilty to Ponzi scheme

A Maui man who previously pleaded guilty to violating state financial securities laws in connection with his operation of a multi-million-dollar Ponzi scheme pleaded guilty in federal court this morning to mail fraud and bank fraud.

As part of his agreement with the federal prosecutor, Lloyd Y. Kimura, 61, of Wailuku, was to turn himself in this afternoon pending sentencing in June.

Kimura pleaded guilty today to four counts of mail fraud, two counts of bank fraud and three counts of theft of employee pension benefits.

“I took money from people I knew and did not pay them back,” he said.

Kimura faces maximum 20-year prison terms for the mail fraud and bank fraud and five-year prison terms for the theft when a federal judge sentences him in June. He faces a mandatory 20-year prison term for securities fraud when a state judge sentences him next month.

State and federal prosecutors have agreed that Kimura will serve his state and federal sentences at the same time in federal prison.

Kimura has agreed that the people who “invested” money with him lost between $7 million and $20 million.

His lawyer, Philip Lowenthal, said the U.S. Bankruptcy Court is doing the accounting to determine exactly how much each investor lost and expects to have a total figure by this summer.

Maui businessman enters guilty plea to securities violations

WAILUKU Wailuku businessman Lloyd Kimura pleaded guilty to four counts of securities violations in 2nd Circuit Court Tuesday morning.

Judge Joseph Cardoza accepted a plea agreement by which Kimura, 61, will be sentenced to up to two 20-year terms and two five-years terms, to run concurrently.

However, it was revealed that Kimura also plans to enter a plea to as-yet unannounced federal charges in U.S. District Court in Honolulu on Jan. 5.

Kimura’s Maui Industrial Finance Co. failed earlier this year. He was charged with making false or misleading financial statements, and with prohibited securities practices — defrauding two couples of amounts exceeding $100,000 each.

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Lawsuit claims Maui Industrial Finance was a Ponzi scheme

Dane Field, the trustee in the Maui Industrial Finance Co. bankruptcy, is suing 25 investors in the company to recover money they received as interest over and above their original investment or deposit, claiming the money was not really interest but the fruits of a Ponzi scheme.

Field’s attorney, Bradley Tamm, said Maui Industrial’s owner, Lloyd Kimura, acknowledged during depositions earlier this year that he had used money from late investors to pay off early investors, without really generating income from operations.

This is the definition of a Ponzi scheme, said Tamm. The supposed business – in this case, a loan company also known as Maui Finance – does little or no real business but simply takes money from new investors (or depositors) and uses it to pay interest or dividends to previous investors (or depositors).

At Maui Finance, people turned over cash to Kimura – in one case, $2 million – expecting to receive interest well above what commercial banks were paying on certificates of deposit.

In the creditors’ meetings after the bankruptcy, some people said they thought they were making deposits in a banklike institution. In 2009, the state Division of Financial Institutions ordered Maui Finance to stop taking deposits, and the business collapsed.

Tamm said that in depositions, Kimura admitted that he had been operating a Ponzi scheme almost from the day he became sole owner of the company around 1985.

Lloyd Y Kimura Inc, Wailuku, HI

Lloyd Y Kimura Inc

140 N Market St # 200

Wailuku, HI 96793-1732

Phone:
(808) 242-9100

Business Categories

Accountants in Wailuku, HI
Offices of Certified Public Accountants

Lloyd Y Kimura Inc Business Information

Lloyd Y Kimura Inc is a private company categorized under Accountants and located in Wailuku, HI. Current estimates show this company has an annual revenue of $1 to 2.5 million and employs a staff of approximately 10 to 19.

HQ, Branch or Single Location
Single Location

Annual Sales (Estimated)
$1 to 2.5 million

Employees (Estimated)
10 to 19

SIC Code and Description
872101, Accountants

NAICS Code and Description
541211, Offices of Certified Public Accountants

Lloyd Y Kimura Inc, Wailuku, HI

Lloyd Y Kimura, 96793 (watchdog.net)

 

Lloyd Y Kimura from zip code 96793

Political contributions disclosed by campaign committees to the Federal Election Commission, sorted by name, zip code and employer. The data, from the FEC, covers the years 1979 through 2008.

Candidates

Lloyd Y Kimura

$400 to Daniel Akaka, Daniel K Akaka For U S Senate on November 25, 1991

Lloyd Y Kimura, Cpa, Lloyd Y. Kimura Cpa Inc.

$250 to Mazie Hirono, Friends Of Mazie Hirono on March 30, 2006

Committees

Lloyd Y Kimura

$400 to Daniel K Akaka For U S Senate on November 25, 1991

Lloyd Y Kimura, Cpa, Lloyd Y. Kimura Cpa Inc.

$250 to Friends Of Mazie Hirono on March 30, 2006

Lloyd Y Kimura, 96793 (watchdog.net)