Agents Seize Palm Springs Resort of Japanese Tycoon

Federal agents announced Tuesday that they have seized a $50-million resort near Palm Springs owned by golf tycoon and high-roller Ken Mizuno, who was arrested in March in Japan’s biggest tax-evasion case.

Customs and Internal Revenue Service agents seized the Indian Wells Country Club, the Indian Wells Racquet Club, six acres of adjacent land and the swanky new $24-million Hotel Indian Wells, where Mizuno lavished an average of $160,000 on each of the 150 guest rooms, which opened last January.

Also seized last week were two Cadillac stretch limousines and two Mercedes-Benz automobiles, according to John Luksic, customs’ special agent in charge in Los Angeles.

A federal judge in Las Vegas authorized the seizures, Luksic said in a news release. He declined further comment, citing an ongoing investigation.

John Craver, who was recently appointed acting general manager of the Hotel Indian Wells, said guests are still staying at the facility. He declined to comment on whether the seizure had interrupted operations at the hotel.

In a report on the seizures last Friday, the Las Vegas Review-Journal said Mizuno, 58, was the target of a multimillion-dollar money laundering investigation and was named in a sealed criminal indictment issued June 19.

The newspaper, citing an unidentified state gambling official, said Mizuno lost $66 million in two years playing baccarat at the Mirage hotel-casino.

Mizuno was also targeted in a civil action filed in June seeking to freeze his assets on behalf of 52,000 Japanese residents who bought memberships in a golf club northeast of Tokyo designed for no more than 2,800 members. Japanese officials allege that Mizuno transferred $248 million from Japan to the United States.

Japanese authorities arrested him in February on charges of evading $44.4 million in income taxes owed on money raised by sale of the memberships--costing $13,950 to $54,260--in the Ibaraki Country Club.

Mizuno rose to prominence in the United States as head of Ken International Co., a real estate company that said it once held $400 million in U.S. assets.

In addition to Indian Wells, Mizuno owns the Royal Kenfield Golf Course in Henderson, Nev., the Olamona Golf Links in Hawaii and a restaurant and spa at the Tropicana Hotel in Las Vegas.

Another businessman, Chikahiko Furuya, 49, was arrested in the Japanese investigation on charges of evading $603,300 in taxes on $1.2 million worth of kickbacks from an advertising agent, prosecutors said.

Officials alleged that a company of which Furuya was a former vice president had made $819 million since 1987 overselling memberships at the Ibaraki Country Club. The company allegedly funneled $549 million of it to Ken International Co., which allegedly falsified its tax returns.

More than 4,000 Ibaraki members filed suit against Mizuno in Japan last year, complaining that they were misled about the number of people allowed in the club.

If convicted, Mizuno and Furuya face up to five years in prison and fines of up to $38,670.