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Ibaraki police: Man posed as cop in swindling school girl in scooter scam

A man allegedly posed as a police officer in swindling a school girl
A man allegedly posed as a police officer in swindling a school girl

IBARAKI (TR) – Ibaraki Prefectural Police have arrested a man for allegedly dressing in a police uniform to defraud a teenage girl by claiming she exceeded the speed limit on her scooter, reports TV Asahi (Oct. 11).

Last month, Makoto Yatabe, attired in a blue shirt with patches, a police hat and dark pants, stopped the girl, a 17-year-old high school student, in the town of Yachiyo and demanded she pay 100,000 yen or face a prison term for “exceeding the speed limit designated by law for scooters.” She subsequently handed over 40,000 yen to the suspect.

In addition to wearing the uniform, the suspect possessed handcuffs and a walkie-talkie in carrying out the ruse.

After the incident, the matter came to light after the girl consulted with officers at police station about the remaining 60,000 yen.

Yatabe is suspected in a series of similar swindles in which he posed as a police officer.