Japanese firm sues president accused of pocketing $2.5 mil.
Japanese firm sues president accused of pocketing $2.5 mil.
June 7, 2004
BY NATASHA KORECKI Staff Reporter
Chicago Sun Times
For years, Hisashi Shimizu was the trusted president and treasurer of the Schaumburg-based company Toda America Inc.
Company leaders, based in Japan, had so much faith in him they gave him sole power over the company's financial accounts in Schaumburg.
In 2000, Shimizu handed out a directive that only he open mail, including anything regarding those accounts. Now company leaders say he concealed his actions so well that no one figured he really was pocketing $2.5 million and using the money to nurture a gambling addiction.
That is, until he sent an April 6 e-mail to superiors saying he was "taking the company's money and disappearing. This is revenge on President Toda."
Last week, Toda America, which had hired a private investigator after Shimizu's disappearance, filed a civil lawsuit seeking $15 million from Shimizu, or three times the $5 million in damages to the company, said John Gallo, Toda's attorney.
"This is a response to Mr. Shimizu's betrayal," Gallo said.
After sending the departing e-mail, Shimizu cleaned out his office, taking a company computer and financial records, according to the suit.
He then went to Woodfield Acura, bought a luxury car with more than $46,000 in company funds and drove across the country, according to the suit and an earlier criminal complaint.
On May 20, authorities tracked down Shimizu after the Treasure Island Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas sent an invoice of $100,000 to Shimizu's Buffalo Grove home. Three days later, he was picked up by the feds. Federal investigators say Shimizu was a compulsive gambler who managed to keep his habit under wraps.
Shimizu, 48, a Japanese citizen, was charged with embezzling and converting millions of dollars in company funds. Authorities arrested him at Rio Suites casino, where he was staying and allegedly gambling hundreds of thousands of Toda's dollars. He is still in Nevada, pending extradition.
Toda, at 1920 N. Thoreau Drive, sells iron oxide and magnetic materials used in videotape and floppy discs.