Ippei Mizuhara: Sentencing is only about a month away, the day “Reiwa’s worst traitor” returns to Japan.
The Uber deliveryman was "fired"...and is currently unemployed due to compensation, additional taxes, and fines totaling up to 3 billion yen.
The price of betrayal weighs heavily on the hero
Mizuhara will have to pay about $17 million (about 2.415 billion yen) he stole from Shohei Otani, 30, as well as additional taxes and fines said to total 400 million yen,” said Hiroshi Kiyohara, an international lawyer.
Ippei Mizuhara, 39, who is currently out on bail after being indicted for bank fraud and other crimes, was caught shopping by the U.S. local media. In his hand was a shopping bag from Whole Foods, a high-end supermarket, and next to him was his wife, who has been the subject of whispers of divorce.
Mizuhara will be sentenced in October. Because he entered into a plea bargain, his conviction is final.
The court will base its decision on the victim’s feelings. Normally, six years’ imprisonment would be appropriate, but if Otani does not seek reimbursement and says, ‘That’s enough,’ he will be sentenced to four years, or if he says, ‘I can’t forgive him. If Otani’s side does not ask for reimbursement and says, ‘That’s enough,’ the sentence could be as long as four years.
Even if Otani did not ask for any repayment, he would still have to pay approximately 400 million yen. Furthermore, if payment is delayed, a “delinquency tax” of approximately 10% will be added every year. It is clear that this is not an amount that can be easily paid by a man who has been banned by Uber Eats from registering as a delivery person and is now unemployed.
He is now unemployed, and it is clear that it will not be easy for him to pay. “I may have to watch my former friend become the world’s number one in the world, and I may have to watch his retirement ceremony in prison,” he said. After his release from prison, he will be deported and stripped of his permanent residency in the United States. If that happens, he will probably choose to return to Japan, where he has relatives.
A life of seclusion and a lifetime of atonement. The price for betraying a hero is heavy on Mizuhara.
From the September 27 and October 4, 2024 combined issue of FRIDAY
PHOTO： AFLO
