New Zealand's Serious Fraud Office announced that Yuko Hanyu, a former finance manager at East Wind, was found guilty by a jury in the Auckland District Court of offences linked to a large-scale Ponzi scheme marketed to New Zealand’s Japanese community. The verdict included four representative charges of making a false statement as a promoter, two representative charges of obtaining by deception, one charge of theft by a person in a special relationship, and three representative charges of theft relating to the misappropriation of more than NZD 800,000 from East Wind. East Wind Company Limited, part of the East Wind Group, promoted the Group Term Deposit and Waterloo Fund products, which operated as Ponzi schemes using incoming funds to repay other investors rather than making legitimate investments. Ms Hanyu was convicted in connection with more than NZD 6.5 million of new investments and more than NZD 12.5 million of reinvestments in the Group Term Deposit product, the use of NZD 1 million intended for the Restaurant Fund to repay a Waterloo Fund investor, and unauthorised transfers including approximately NZD 430,000 to her personal credit card and more than NZD 400,000 to repay her mortgage. The group collapsed in February 2019 and went into liquidation following the death of director Masatomo Ashikaga. Ms Hanyu is scheduled to be sentenced on 3 July 2026 at 2.15 pm.
Serious Fraud Office 2026-04-14
New Zealand's Serious Fraud Office secures jury conviction of East Wind finance manager over multi-million NZD Ponzi schemes
The New Zealand Serious Fraud Office reported that former East Wind finance manager Yuko Hanyu has been found guilty in the Auckland District Court of offences relating to a large-scale Ponzi scheme targeting New Zealand’s Japanese community. She was convicted on multiple charges including making false statements as a promoter, obtaining by deception and theft, involving misappropriation of more than NZD 800,000 from East Wind and responsibility for transactions linked to over NZD 6.5 million of new investments and NZD 12.5 million of reinvestments.