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Tokyo cops nab yakuza boss for loan sharking

Yasumichi Fujita
Yasumichi Fujita

TOKYO (TR) – Tokyo Metropolitan Police have re-arrested a boss of an organized crime group for running a loan sharking ring that is believed to have involved loans of more than 150 million yen, reports Yukan Fuji (Dec. 8).

Between February of 2012 and October of last year, Yasumichi Fujita, the 44-year-old head of the Hanabusa-gumi, an affiliate gang of the Kobe Yamaguchi-gumi, allegedly issued loans without proper registration and totaling 15 million yen to four persons.

According to police, Fujita collected eight million yen in interest from three of those persons at rates exceeding that allowed under money lending laws.

Fujita has declined to comment on the allegations.

The matter came to light in November after police arrested Fujita for fraudulently opening several bank accounts in the names of other persons.

Since 2010, the accounts received a total of 330 million yen in deposits. Police suspect the deposits came as a result of Fujita issuing loans totaling 140 million yen to about 300 persons.