crime

Suspect says he killed financier, wife over investment deal loss

28 Comments

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28 Comments
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loss hundreds of millions? he can't even afford to buy a car.

0 ( +2 / -2 )

Shimomi and his wife were running a ponzi scheme . . . and they thought living in Switzerland - while sucking money out of gullible Japanese - would protect them

1 ( +5 / -4 )

Shimomi and his wife were running a ponzi scheme...

Really? I didn't see that reported.

5 ( +6 / -1 )

Well, Watanabe went to some bizarre lengths to try and cover up this whole thing - having friends buy cars and a vacant lot to bury bodies? Why not just dump them in the bush somewhere in the mountains (not that I am suggesting anyone do this). Seems like an awful lot of work, and too easy to get caught leaving such a clear paper trail.

Maybe the guy wasn't as clever as he thought he was...

2 ( +2 / -0 )

Ah, the love of money. Can't say I'm immune to its temptations but I can't see murdering someone over ANY amount. Note to the killers: all investments carry the inherent risk of you losing possibly the whole invested sum. That's something that any adult with a normal brain should know and be prepared to deal with accordingly. Cursing and tantrums are OK, homicide isn't.

6 ( +6 / -0 )

how did that guy get to become a company president? i mean that "elaborate" ruse could have been detected by a 10-year-old kid. what a maroon!

2 ( +3 / -1 )

Nowhere have I seen it reported that this couple were scam artists.

2 ( +2 / -0 )

This is why the SESC/JFSA needs to get with the program to protect investors. People get crazy nuts when they lose life savings (I know a few) and see it flaunted by these guys in Tokyo and abroad thinking they're in the clear. Japanese are hesitant it lift a finger and keep it inside... A lot of gaijin get robbed too and the SESC throws them the finger.

-1 ( +2 / -3 )

"Head I win, tails you lose" only works if you're Goldman Sachs. It doesn't apply to the great unwashed, not even the tattooed great unwashed.

3 ( +4 / -1 )

The couple do seem Madoff-like. Losing tons of their clients' money while leading the lives of billionaires, which may well have been funded by investors' capital.

Not uncommon right now. Asset managers have been able to point to the Bush depression when asked about their heavy losses. But now that the Obama recovery is under way, the investors are starting to wonder why their portfolios haven't also recovered.

-2 ( +2 / -4 )

Things are not right in this case. It sounds like a victims were not exactly living a clean lifestyle.

-2 ( +4 / -6 )

Guess he bought Y3M of shink tickets to sell to his friends? Or, that was the best thing he/they could come with to do with sudden mountains of money? And, well, maybe they are indeed, as @rickyvee said, "maroons". :-)

1 ( +1 / -0 )

all a bit strange. Could this be a kind of Japanese Ponzi scheme? Bit extreme to kill the crook.

0 ( +1 / -1 )

Not enough information, but it does sound as if the victim ran a ponzi scheme.

0 ( +1 / -1 )

Ponzi scheme?? Maybe ?? This Watanabe guy must have been really pissed off to strangle the Shimomis!!

1 ( +1 / -0 )

You can see a profile of Shimomi's investment fund at Bloomberg. Aggressive, high risk, minimum $250,000 investment. Has lost value in the past year. A risky investment, but nothing to suggest a Ponzi scheme.

Seems Watanabe wanted to play the get-rich-quick game but couldn't deal with the downside.

3 ( +4 / -1 )

Quick thought: Shimomi-san was making 500,000,000JPY a year and his fund was losing money. He turns a profit and his investors lose their shirts...

Surely Watanabe-san can't be the only one who was affected.

1 ( +2 / -1 )

Surely Watanabe-san can't be the only one who was affected.

Some will be winners; some will be losers. That's the nature of investment. Shimomi-san obviously made money for many of his clients otherwise he wouldn't get 500 million yen/year.

-3 ( +1 / -4 )

Some will be winners; some will be losers. That's the nature of investment. Shimomi-san obviously made money for many of his clients otherwise he wouldn't get 500 million yen/year.

Unless he was scamming them. Investment fund managers play with other people's money and make money on the deal. If the deal/investment goes south afterwards, too bad for the investor. The investment fund already made a commission.

1 ( +3 / -2 )

Could this be a kind of Japanese Ponzi scheme?

A ponzu scheme?

9 ( +11 / -2 )

Whether they were scam artists or not, no one should end up with a permanent stare in their face.

2 ( +2 / -0 )

Whether they were scam artists or not, no one should end up with a permanent stare in their face.

well payback is a bitch

1 ( +3 / -2 )

If you lose money, be thankful that it is just that and nothing else. Be thankful for the life or health you have left over. Unless your greed will also turn you into poor health. Toil not for riches, a proverb.

1 ( +3 / -2 )

Be careful who you fraud! You might end up buried in a vacant lot in Kuki, Saitama Prefecture.

1 ( +3 / -2 )

No, you shouldn't be thankful to have lost money whilst the swindler is gadding about on a yatch!! Vigilante justice but what's a man to do having lost several million yen!

0 ( +2 / -2 )

Some will be winners; some will be losers

Correction: very few winners, many losers

1 ( +2 / -1 )

Some will be winners; some will be losers

Correction: very few winners, many losers

Based on what?

Some will be winners; some will be losers. That's the nature of investment. Shimomi-san obviously made money for many of his clients otherwise he wouldn't get 500 million yen/year.

Unless he was scamming them.

Unlikely. And nothing in the article suggests that he was.

0 ( +1 / -1 )

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