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Hyogo cops nab Kobe Yamaguchi-gumi top boss in fraud probe

The Kobe Yamaguchi-gumi, headed by Kunio Inoue (above), is expected to splinter into two gangs
The Kobe Yamaguchi-gumi, headed by Kunio Inoue (above), is expected to splinter into two gangs

HYOGO (TR) – Hyogo Prefectural Police on Tuesday arrested the top boss of the Kobe Yamaguchi-gumi on charges of fraud related to a service contract for a mobile phone, reports Jiji Press (June 6).

On November 8, 2013, Kunio Inoue, 68, is alleged to have used the name of a woman, aged in her 30s, in engaging in a contract for a new model of mobile phone at shop in Kobe’s Nada Ward.

Located in Awaji City, the Kobe Yamaguchi-gumi formed in 2015 following the dissolution of the Yamaguchi-gumi, the Kobe-based syndicate that is Japan’s largest. In April, the Kobe Yamaguchi-gumi itself suffered a mass defection with the dissenting gangs forming the Ninkyo Dantai Yamaguchi-gumi.

With three Yamaguchi-gumi factions now in existence, police have been increasingly upping intelligence gathering in an effort to stem violence that may result as the gangs battle over turf.