TOKYO (TR) – Tokyo Metropolitan Police have arrested a yakuza boss over the alleged extortion of a former gang member last year, reports TBS News (June 6).
In July, Yoshinori Hirabayashi, the 72-year-old chairman of a gang affiliated with the Kobe Yamaguchi-gumi, and four other persons allegedly waved a gun in the direction of the male victim, 72, inside a restaurant and other locations in Koto Ward.
“There is money required to open a fuzoku parlor,” the gangster allegedly threatened, referring to a commercial sex business. “I do not want to get violent.”
According to the Ikegami Police Station, the suspects subsequently extorted 30 million yen in cash from the victim.
Hirabayashi and three other suspects deny the allegations, according to police.
Until October, 2016, the victim was a member of the Kobe Yamaguchi-gumi. Police suspect that trouble developed after he left a life of crime.
