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Tokyo: Pachinko employee attempted to swindle elderly woman out of ¥1 million

Shoji Toshima
Shoji Toshima (TV Asahi)

TOKYO (TR) – Tokyo Metropolitan Police have arrested a suspected member of a fraud group for attempting to swindle an elderly woman out of nearly 1 million yen in a ruse in which a person posed as her son, reports TBS News (Dec. 13).

On Monday, Shoji Toshima, a part-time male employee at a pachinko parlor, attempted to collect 900,000 yen in cash from the woman, a 78-year-old resident of Setagaya Ward.

Prior to the attempt, the woman was told on the telephone by a person posing as her son that he had lost a bag containing a bank check for his company and needed money.

Finding the explanation to be suspicious, the woman contacted her relatives. After learning that her son was not in Tokyo, she alerted police who apprehended Toshima upon his arrival to collect the money.

Toshima admits to the allegations.

It is believed that the suspect served as an underling in the fraud group. Police are now expanding the investigation into the group.