Collaborative family law agreement scam by Zulian Yoshikazu
Date First Reported: May 2012
Primary Name Associated: Zulian Yoshikazu
Description of Potential Fraud:
Nearly forty lawyers from Canada and the U.S. have notified us that they’ve been contacted by the purported Zulian Yoshikazu with regards to a to a collaborative family law agreement dispute. This is a fraud we have seen before under several other names and similar scenarios. For details on how this fraud works and a full list of names attached to it see our Confirmed Fraud page.
Here is the initial email:
From:
Date: Wed, May 23, 2012 at 9:13 AM
Subject: Possible Litigation
To:
Dear Attorney
I want to know if your firm handles cases regarding violation of judgment
of marriage dissolution.
Zulian Yoshikazu
Email:[email protected]
A lawyer who responded received the following reply and fake documentation:
Thank you for your prompt response. Am residing in South Korea for an
assignment at present and my ex-spouse and Warren Yoshikazu
(ex-spouse) lives in Troy, MI, Due to the time difference (+13hrs
EST), it is a little bit difficult to determine the best time to call
you. Following my previous mail, My ex-spouse and I agreed under a
Collaborative Law Agreement which incorporated by reference was
approved, merged into and made part of the court order for a cash
settlement of $698,000.00USD, for child support, spousal support, etc,
To his credit, he has paid me $260,500.00USD but still owing
$437.500.00USD and the stipulated time for completion of payment has
long elapsed. Therefore, breaching the court’s decree with regards to
payment of divorce settlement. He is aware of my intention to seek
legal actions. Attached is a copy of the Collaborative Law Agreement,
Entitlement Settlement Agreement and the Court’s Decree (i.e. Divorce
Decree) and I will be pleased to provide further information on this
case on request. I have already advised him I am planning on retaining
your firm. Kindly send me your firm’s retainer fee agreement so that
we can proceed. Thank you and I await your email with the retainer
agreement.
Regards,
Zulian Yoshikazu.
Yoshikazu Collaborative Agreement
Yoshikazu Divorce Decree
Yoshikazu Settlement Agreement
How to handle a real or suspected fraud
If you have been targeted by any of these frauds, please forward any of the emails and supporting documents that you have received to [email protected].
If you suspect you are acting on a matter that might be a fraud, call LAWPRO at 1-800-410-1013 (416-598-5899). We will talk you through the common fraud scenarios we are seeing and help you spot red flags that may indicate you are being duped. This will help you ask appropriate questions of your client to determine if the matter is legitimate or not. If the matter you are acting on turns out to be a fraud and there is a potential claim, we will work with you to prevent the fraud and minimize potential claims costs.
If you have been successfully duped, please immediately notify LAWPRO as there may be a claim against you.
For more immediate updates on fraud and claims prevention, subscribe to the email or RSS feed updates from LAWPRO’s AvoidAClaim blog.
Fraud Fact Sheet More fraud prevention information and resources are available on the practicePRO Fraud page, including the Fraud Fact Sheet, a handy reference for lawyers and law firm staff that describes the common frauds and the red flags that can help identify them.
May 23, 2012 at 4:59 pm, Rebecca said:
I received an email from this “person” today. It is the third I have received in the past two weeks. I am so appreciative that this site exists. Thank you!!!
June 06, 2012 at 11:20 am, Karen said:
I received this email today at our Law Firm in New Jersey! This is the second time I have received this type of email
June 20, 2012 at 11:43 pm, Wayan Kartika said:
I received also a similar email to our Law Firms in Bali.
June 25, 2012 at 5:17 pm, John York said:
Have been contacted by Zulian Yoshikazu today. Won’t be responding back after seeing your website. Thank you. I am located in Arizona.
June 26, 2012 at 7:23 pm, Eraka said:
I received a similar email today also.
July 05, 2012 at 10:22 am, D. Techera said:
We received and e-mail from this person and the same request as explain in this page to out firm in Uruguay.
We are not going to get back to her after reading what this is all about.
Thanks for posting.
July 10, 2012 at 8:53 am, Maria said:
I recieved an email similar and also her passport scanned copy of it, as she claims. Never doubted it was a scam though.
July 17, 2012 at 2:15 pm, C. Bolani said:
We received the same inquiry in our firm in Montevideo, Uruguay. We had also received emails from other people listed under the “Divorce settlement and collaborative family law agreement fraud” list on your blog. Thank you for your very useful website.
July 18, 2012 at 9:14 am, Andres Matos said:
I received the mail, we are located in Margarita Island, Venezuela… nearly fell into this trap, even sent them a retainer agreement… until we decided it was too good to be true and check their names in google and found this site. Thanks indeed!
July 30, 2012 at 12:19 am, Birgit Krüsmann said:
I received the same mail two days ago. I am located in Munich. I was preparing the retainer Fee already, when I looked up in the internet and found your website. What would have happened? How do they deal? Thank you.
August 07, 2012 at 11:11 am, TimLemieux said:
Hi Birgit,
What would would have happened is that you’d receive a fraudulent cheque from the “ex husband”. You’d be asked to deposit it and wire the funds overseas (after deducting your fees). Only later would the bank discover the cheque was fake and you’d be left with the shortfall in your account.
August 18, 2012 at 5:25 pm, Xiomara Villegas said:
I received the same mail 2 weeks ago. I am located in San José, Costa Rica. “Zulian Yoshikazu” already sent me a retainer Fee Agreement, and her “ex-husband” is supposed to send a “certified check” this week. I am been a little bit suspicious, that’s why I ask to “Ms Yoshikazu” the “Divorce Decree” and the other papers certified and apostille by foreign Minister of Japan, but when she wrote me back saying she doesnt have money not even for that I got suspicious and I looked up in the web and found this website. Thanks!
August 27, 2012 at 11:48 am, Ignacio Figueroa said:
I received the same e mail in Chile, also en the second e mail, with some simillar papers.
August 28, 2012 at 6:57 pm, Rachel Mendoza-Newton said:
I just got this e-mail a few minutes ago. I immediately suspected a scam, so I googled the e-mail address and got this site’s story on it! Great work, you all!