HOKKAIDO (TR) – Hokkaido Prefectural Police have arrested the head of used-car dealership in Sapporo’s Chuo Ward on suspicion of trafficking prostitutes, reports NHK (Sep. 25).
On August 5, Naotaka Tsusaka, the 50-year-old president of dealership Various Planning, allegedly dispatched a 19-year-old girl to meet a man, 50, at a convenience store parking lot in Higashi Ward for the purpose of prostitution.
One other male employee at Various Planning has been arrested in the case. Both suspects admit to the allegations.
According to police, the company behind the dealership had engaged in contracts with about 10 women, aged between 19 and 24, but they are listed on a deai-kei matchmaking site. Rates range between 10,000 and 50,000 yen per session.
Between January and July, the business is believed to have collected 15 million yen in revenue, police said.
“Front for organized prostitution”
“The web site [for Various Planning] includes an address for the dealership, but it is actually the address of the apartment of Tsusaka,” an investigator tells evening tabloid Nikkan Gendai (Sept. 27). The web site also features logos for such makers as BMW, Toyota, Nissan, Volkswagen and Mazda.
“It appears the used-car dealership was a front for organized prostitution,” the investigator continues.
