TOKYO (TR) – Tokyo Metropolitan Police on Tuesday announced multiple arrests for the staging of a celebrity dinner show inside a hotel banquet hall in Minato Ward in which the proceeds were funneled to organized crime, reports the Asahi Shimbun (Nov. 17).
In early October of last year, Katsuji Takeda, a 70-year-old employee at an event agency, Keiichi Yamamoto, a 43-year-old Inagawa-kai member, and two other suspects are alleged to have participated in the falsification of contract documents to indicate that the show was a commendation ceremony and not a yakuza-sponsored event.
According to police, 550 tickets to the event were sold through a fuzoku (or commercial sex) parlor in the Gotanda area for 35,000 yen each as a part of a “protection money” collection racket known as mikajimeryo. Approximately 10 million yen was received by the Inagawa-kai, according to the Mainichi Shimbun (Nov. 17).
Yamamoto, who has been charged with fraud, has declined to comment on the allegations. Meanwhile, Takeda has told police that he knew the proceeds were intended for the gang.
The event, which was a series of impersonations held before approximately 350 people in the middle of November, included five well-known performers from a talent agency based in Shinjuku Ward.
