Yoshihiro Sexyama On His Embezzlement Case | Steve Rattlesnake

Published in GOT MMA?

This story also appeared in Akiyama’s autobiography, “The Two Souls”. The amount estimated to have been embezzled is roughly 1 million dollars. The person who managed Akiyama’s funds obviously had a very close relationship with Akiyama. Akiyama says they were like real brothers. Trusting him, Akiyama let him handle his funds.

Akiyama learned of the embezzlement in early 2008 when he tried to make a withdrawal against his account to buy his parents house. After the incident, Akiyama had difficulty focusing on his fights. He points to this personal ordeal as a reason for having a couple of matches against the fighters, who people like to call as “cans”. As stated in Akiyama’s Blog, the embezzler did not suffer any consequences for his act, and to borrow Akiyama’s own words, is “living a happy life”.

“It is embarrassing to share this personal story but all of my fight money, the money I’ve been saving from beginning of my MMA career is gone. I had a friend who I become acquainted with when I was practicing judo. We became close friends and I respected him very much as a person but basically he has embezzled all the money that’s hundreds and thousands of dollars!. It’s big money, I know! it’s been three years and that person is living a happy life as if nothing was wrong, and I think this is really unfair!. I’ve been seeking advice from some people to get my money back. This time, I found a new attorney and, fortunately, it seems like there’s going to be some new progress, I really hope this doesn’t happen to you!”