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Tokyo cops bust Kabukicho hostess club for overcharging

Nobuaki Muroi
Nobuaki Muroi (left)
TOKYO (TR) – Tokyo Metropolitan Police on Monday announced the bust of a hostess club for overcharging customers last month, reports TV Asahi (Dec. 1).

On November 29, officers took Nobuaki Muroi, a 33-year-old employee at club Xeno, located in the Kabukicho entertainment area, and one other staff member into custody for allegedly demanding 280,000 yen from three male customers four days before.

According to Fuji News Network (Dec. 1), the total bill included 30 drinks, priced at 5,000 yen each, that were consumed by hostesses.

In escorting the victim to an automatic-teller machine, the suspects threatened to inflict violence if payment of 80 percent of the total (or 230,000 yen) was not made. The suspects then photocopied the driver’s license of one victim and had him sign a promissory note in an effort to collect the remaining 50,000 yen in the future.

Both suspects, who have been charged with violating a metropolitan ordinance that prohibits bottakuri, or overcharging, have reportedly denied the allegations, saying that the total bill was justified.

According to TBS News (Dec. 1), police have received many complaints this year from customers at Xeno about overcharging.