Press "Enter" to skip to content

Tokyo cops nab yakuza boss in attempted extortion

Makoto Saito
Makoto Saito

TOKYO (TR) – Tokyo Metropolitan Police have arrested an organized crime boss over the alleged extortion of a male acquaintance, reports NHK (July 6).

In the middle of June, Makoto Saito, a boss in the Kyokuto-kai, summoned the man, 41, to the gang’s headquarters in Kawaguchi City, Saitama Prefecture over a loan of 550,000 yen. “The money lent to you is not mine,” the gangster reportedly said. “Including interest, you owe one million yen.”

Saito, who has been charged with attempted extortion, denies the charges. “I asked for the money to be repaid but I did not make a threat,” the suspect is quoted.

The contention of the police is that bringing the victim to the gang’s headquarters is a form of intimidation.