Japanese Businessman Arrested as Fugitive
A Japanese businessman who fled his homeland after being convicted of election fraud was in custody Friday after his arrest by federal marshals.
Masami Aizawa, 49, was being held in the federal Metro Detention Center after failing to post $25,000 bail set by U.S. Magistrate John Kronenberg. Assistant U.S. Atty. John Potter had urged that no bail be set.
Deputies found Aizawa at a Gardena hotel and arrested him Thursday.
Aizawa was convicted in Japan of paying about $1 million in bribes to buy votes while campaigning for a seat in the Japanese Diet in 1976 and 1979, the U.S. Marshals Service said. He was sentenced to 14 months in prison but fled the country in 1989 before being incarcerated.
Aizawa controls the Seattle-based AKC Corp., a commercial boating firm. Deputy U.S. Marshal Brian Salt said Aizawa apparently had frequented Hawaii, Seattle and different locations in the Los Angeles area before his arrest.
Kronenberg said Aizawa faced the equivalent of a misdemeanor sentence.
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