Press "Enter" to skip to content

Kanagawa cops: Loan sharking ring charged interest 110 times legal rate

Yutaka Matsuda
Yutaka Matsuda (Fuji News Network)

KANAGAWA (TR) – Kanagawa Prefecfural Police have busted a yamikin, or loan sharking, ring that charged victims interest rates exceeding more than 100 times allowed by law, reports Fuji News Network (May 30).

Between January of last year and this past February, Yutaka Matsuda, 48, and two other employees of Meiwa Fund, based in Saitama Prefecture, charged a 31-year-old restaurant employee in Yamato City, Kanagawa and three other persons interest rates there were between 11 and 110 times allowed by the Investment Deposit and Interest Rate Law.

The suspects allegedly received a total of 929,000 yen in interest from the victims.

All three suspects, who have been accused of extending loans without authorization, admit to the allegations.

Police believe the suspects utilized similar means in collecting a total of 33 million yen in interest from about 270 persons in 41 administrative districts across the nation.

According to TV Asahi (May 31), the suspects utilized class yearbooks to find lists of names to search for potential victims.