The State : S.F. Broker Held in Fraud

A former broker for Shearson Lehman Hutton in San Francisco, known for his flashy life style, was jailed and accused of bilking clients out of more than $1.2 million in a wire-fraud scam. Yasuhiro Nomoto, a Japanese citizen, was arrested by the FBI on Friday while he was waiting at San Francisco International Airport to board a flight to Japan. He was charged with four counts of using interstate wires to transfer money for fraudulent schemes. Federal officials said Nomoto allegedly forged the name of a superior to gain permission from Shearson’s New York office to transfer funds out of the firm’s accounts in Los Angeles. The money, in turn, was transferred to bank accounts in San Francisco under Nomoto’s control.