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Tokyo: Seventh arrest made in ¥4 billion fake Prince George coin scam

Manabu Yakushiji
Manabu Yakushiji (Twitter)

TOKYO (TR) – Tokyo Metropolitan Police have arrested a seventh person over a scam that involved the sale of fake coins featuring Prince George and netted the suspects about 4 billion yen, reports Nippon News Network (Feb. 2).

According to police, the suspects peddled fake coins commemorating the birth of Prince George of Cambridge through a precious metals company in swindling about 650 persons out of nearly 1.1 billion yen between November of 2013 and the following September.

The ruse was carried with the help of a second company that sought investors for rental storage containers. The company promised that returns to the investors would be through the rental fees, police said.

However, once the acquisition of rental fees declined, the second company indicated that it would buy back the stakes of the investors under the provision that they buy the commemorative coins.

The company collected about 3 billion yen from around 800 investors for the containers, police said, which brings the total amount accumulated to more than 4 billion yen.

Earlier this week, police arrested six suspects on suspicion of fraud in the case. On Friday, Manabu Yakushiji, 51, surrendered to police, making him the seventh person arrested. “I do not consent to the charge of fraud,” the suspect was quoted.