OSAKA (TR) – Osaka Prefectural Police have arrested a Liberian national believed belong to foreign criminal ring in the swindling of multiple persons in a scam in which he falsely claimed to be able to convert ordinary paper to currency, reports Sankei Sports (Nov. 17).
On October 27, the male Liberian, a 35-year-old resident of Matsudo City, Chiba Prefecture, conned a woman, aged in her 60s and living in Suita City, by claiming that the application of a particular chemical could convert ordinary black sheets of paper to U.S. 100-dollar bills. He sold her the chemical for 10 million yen.
The suspect, who has been accused of fraud, denies the charges, telling officers from the Suita Police Station that the woman “requested [the chemical].”
That same month, the suspect used a similar ruse to swindle another woman out of 15 million yen, police said.
According to TV Asahi (Nov. 17), police suspect that the Liberian is a member of a criminal organization composed of other foreigners that is under investigation for other crimes.
