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Father of fraud-linked Tokyo hostess says home loan paid with pension

Shukan Bunshun Jan. 3-10
Shukan Bunshun Jan. 3-10

On April 11, Tokyo Metropolitan Police arrested Moritoshi Kurita, 33, a former executive at industrial rubber firm Shibata for embezzling over 600 million yen from company accounts.

Numerous news outlets reported that nearly the entire amount was delivered to a bar hostess going by the name of Kana Yamamoto. She claimed to be suffering from various sicknesses, including stomach, heart and spinal ailments.

In fact, Kurita was the target of a seven-year swindle carried out through 2010 by Yamamoto, who utilized the funds on a lavish life centered upon her boyfriend, a fancy apartment, clothing purchases, Roppongi hosts, numerous pets, and helicopter rides.

Shukan Bunshun (Jan. 3-10) tracks down the father of Yamamoto, a former police officer, who paid off his 15-million-yen home loan in June of last year — for which the magazine wonders about the source of the capital.

A journalist spoke with her father, who wound up paying reconciliation money totaling six million yen on her behalf to Shibata, for twenty minutes one afternoon in the entryway of his home.

“My daughter could be at fault, but he (Kurita) is the stupid one from my perspective,” he said. “If my daughter knew about the [origin of the] money she would not have taken it. He is the bad guy. I am the victim. As for the loan, it was paid with my retirement money. You have a problem with that?”

Obviously frustrated, the father then began to display his irritation with the incident. “Under usual circumstances, I would punch you [referring to Shukan Bunshun’s reporter],” he continued. “I am fine with being arrested for assaulting you.”

Whether the claim about the loan is true or not, entries for Yamamoto’s account on social-networking site Mixi in 2010 offer a good idea where the majority of the money went. In July, when she claimed to be a leukemia patient, she was living in an apartment (with an estimated rent of approximately 250,000 yen) in a high-rise in Nishi Shinjuku, Tokyo with her boyfriend, a nightclub host five years her senior, and nine chihuahuas.

Various entries revealed that the couple celebrated their anniversary each month and new releases by high-end fashion brands Louis Vuitton and Chanel were routinely greeted with purchases. Excursions were not unusual, with four-day trips to Mie Prefecture, chartered helicopter rides, and French dinner cruises.

On August 14, four days after requesting a “last” funding payment of 13 million yen from Kurita, she wrote of staying on the 30th floor of an Odaiba hotel, where she dined and watched the Tokyo Bay Fireworks show.

Records show that Kurita transferred a total of 594 million of Shibata’s funds through 350 transactions to Yamamoto. The former executive is also said to have pocketed another 40 million for his own investments. Yamamoto typically made her requests for the money by email, in which she also often discussed her ongoing treatments.

“Yesterday I received an invoice for last month,” she wrote. “It was 850,000 yen. Last month, I also had an endoscope check and examination in the hygienic clean room — so that’s why it increased. I am very sorry. Don’t hate me. It is ok to split the amount in half. Please make a transfer by next week. I want to be with Kuritan as soon as possible♥ I want to have sex with you many times♥ Please enjoy your day. I love you.”

The beginning of the end was a visit to the rubber company by the Tokyo Taxation Bureau on August 3, 2010. A three-day inspection uncovered Kurita’s alleged embezzlement.

Kurita, who had originally joined Shibata in 1997, was fired on October 15. After his dismissal, the former manager moved by himself to a decrepit, one-room apartment in Asaka City, Saitama Prefecture that he rented for 30,000 yen. He worked in the area as a temporary staff employee.

On this past September 27, the Tokyo District Court handed down a seven-year prison sentence to Kurita. The magazine wonders what Yamamoto is doing now.

“She’s working part-time now, I think,” the father said. “It is not in a drinking place, just a regular job.”

Source: “6oku en kyabajo moto keisatsukan no chichi ga jutakuroon kansai chokugeki ni ‘bunnacchauzo,'” Shukan Bunshun (Jan. 3-11, page 54)