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Nagoya court gives ex-cop suspended sentence in leaks to yakuza

Katsunori Kuraki
Katsunori Kuraki (Twitter)

NAGOYA (TR) – The Nagoya District Court on Thursday handed a former inspector with the Aichi Prefectural Police a suspended prison term for leaking information to an affiliate of the Yamaguchi-gumi, reports the Mainichi Shimbun (April 23).

Presiding judge Taro Kageyama found Katsunori Kuraki, 57, guilty of violating two government employee laws. The defendant received a 30-month prison sentence, suspended for four years.

“By colluding with organized crime, you have strongly disrupted the internal operations of law enforcement and significantly harmed its trust and authority,” Kageyama said.

Between August 28, 2012 and September 4, Kuraki accessed a police database to convey information regarding vehicles used in investigations to Yoshinori Sato, the manager of the Blue chain of fuzoku (sex-related) clubs in Nagoya.

During the trial, Kuraki said that he acted at the request of other police officers in claiming innocence. However, Kageyama said that the ruling was based the defendant’s close connection to Sato.

At the time of the leaks, Sato was closely affiliated with members of the Yamaguchi-gumi’s Kodo-kai. In 2013, Sato was found guilty of threatening an organized crime investigator. During the investigation into this case, the crimes committed by Kuraki surfaced.

The defense is considering an appeal of the ruling.