Sometime racer and repeat commercial thorn in teams sides Yoshiharu (Yoshi) Mori has finally, it seems, come to the attention of the forces of law and order in his homeland Japan.
Mori, whose now predictable Modus Operandi features repeated promises to pay agreed fees to teams, but then seldom producing anything close to the level contracted, either within a reasonable period of time, or indeed at all, has left a trail of unpaid bills across international racing including teams in Blancpain GT, FIA WEC, Asian Le Mans Series and elsewhere.
Amongst the teams known to suffered the tactics above (and others) from Mori are: Attempto Racing, Eurasia Motorsport, Jackie Chan DC Racing and Larbre Competition – in some cases causing real hardship for the teams, and in the case of Jackie Chan DC Racing at Shanghai last year in the Asian Le Mans Series leading to the exclusion of one of their cars from race results after the team refused to allow Mori to drive following repeated failures to produce agreed payments.
Several of Mori’s approaches to teams over past years focused on assurances that Mori would bring the internationally known ‘Hello Kitty’ brand to the effort though it is not at all clear what, if any, link he had to the brand.
But now Mori, 52 has, it seems, been arrested, together with a second man, 79-year-old Yamanashi Kazunari, for offences dating back to 2014, with allegations of fraud pertaining to the sale of a seat in a Lamborghini GT car that was not, it seems, theirs to sell!
The initial charges are reported to relate to a 6 million yen (c. £45,000 GBP) deposit received from a potential driver that never reached a team, the customer left with nothing. Both men are understood to have denied the charges.
DSC predicts that the investigating authorities in Japan will have no shortage of offers eager to add to the evidence base in Mr Mori’s case!
