The individual who apparently asked William Leal to found Eclipse, Album Collection’s operating company, is wanted in the U.S.

(Illustration by qnel)

On April 6, 2024, Tansa and reporters from the NHK Special “Investigative Reporting: The New Century” arrived in Hawaii.

We were there to uncover the true nature of Eclipse Incorporated (hereafter “Eclipse”), the Hawaii-based company to which Malaysia resident Keisuke Nitta had transferred Album Collection.

William Leal was registered as the president of Eclipse. What kind of person was he?

Before our trip, an NHK researcher had obtained contact information for William’s father, who was now living outside the United States. When we emailed the father to ask about William’s current situation, he told us that William currently lives in Japan with his mother, and that he told his father he no longer works for Eclipse.

But even if William was in Japan and no longer working for Eclipse, his father may know something about others involved with the company.

The first thing we did once we arrived in Hawaii was to call the father and tell him that we had come to Hawaii as part of our investigation.

Upon doing so, William’s father began to tell us about Eclipse.

The son not taking Tansa’s articles seriously

“I’ve actually talked to my son since then, and my advice to him was, ‘Get to Hawaii as soon as you can and cancel that company,’” the father told us over the phone.

“I sent him screenshots of all you guys’ articles, and I could tell he wasn’t taking it seriously. And then the other day I texted him something like, ‘So did you go cancel the company?’” he continued. “He said something like, ‘Okay, yeah, yeah, yeah, but whatever you do, don’t talk to anybody.’”

At the time of our visit to Hawaii, Eclipse’s registered information had not been changed, and William was still listed as the company representative.

However, as the father continued talking, we learned of the involvement of another individual.

“This boy was a friend of my oldest son and my youngest son. He called my oldest son one day saying he works for an app company and we need someone to go register a company, and he said he can’t do it,” the father explained. “But he [William’s older brother] said, ‘By the way, my younger brother is in Tokyo.’”

The father said that company was Eclipse.

“I think William left Tokyo to go to Hawaii just to do that,” he said. “I guess that’s how he got involved with the company.”

The reporting team speaks to William’s father over the phone. Photo taken on April 8, 2024, by the NHK Special “Investigative Reporting: The New Century” reporting team.

Arrested for credit card fraud

Who was the friend of William’s older brother who asked William to go to Hawaii? And why did it have to be William?

“He had a friend who was a waiter, who skimmed the credit card number as they can be; [he] got up to around $50,000 with a gift card to Walmart,” the father said.

In fact, this individual had been arrested by the Honolulu police for theft and other charges, and he was the subject of an FBI investigation.

His name was Shaun Hart.

Wanted in the U.S.

Following his credit card fraud, in 2018 Hart fled Hawaii before his trial could be held.

When Hart was arrested, the police apparently seized his U.S. passport and attached a GPS to his ankle to track his location.

Despite these measures, it is believed that he escaped using a Japanese passport.

According to William’s father, Hart’s father is American and his mother is Japanese, and through them Hart had both U.S. and Japanese passports.

“And the FBI got involved,” William’s father continued. “And that’s when, I told you, he got arrested. But they never asked him for his Japanese passport. At some point, between him and his mom, they literally cut off his bracelet. He came back to Tokyo.”

Indeed, when we looked up Hart’s name, we found several items saying that he was wanted by the police. Local media had reported that Hart had been charged with theft and other crimes but that he could no longer be located.

The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration also listed Hart as wanted for possession of illegal drugs.

Neighbor: “Police often came to the house”

Hart was a fugitive and could not return to Hawaii. So he had asked William’s brother, a friend from his school days, to establish company and open a bank account in Hawaii. The pieces were coming together.

We decided to investigate Hart while we were in Hawaii.

We obtained information on Hart and his family from public records and other sources. In an attempt to talk to someone who knew him, we visited his past addresses that were still on record. In each case, we were told that the residents were either away or had already moved out.

But, while visiting one of the addresses, we spoke with a woman who said she lived in the neighborhood and that she remembered the Hart family.

She said she frequently heard family members yelling, and that police often came to the house.

According to public records, Hart’s father, an American, had been arrested for drug-related offenses and had been served with multiple restraining orders by his wife and son. Such court orders are issued to protect victims of physical and other violence from their abusers.

If it was true that Hart had asked William to help him establish Eclipse, then Eclipse was involved with a person who had been arrested for committing crimes and was a fugitive from justice.

Album Collection, which was operated by Eclipse, generated revenue through fees earned from trade of illegal images, including child sexual abuse material.

To be continued.

(Originally published on July 11, 2024.)

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