TOKYO (TR) – Tokyo Metropolitan Police have re-arrested the chairman of Natural, Japan’s largest sex industry scouting syndicate, for illegal recruitment.
The arrest of Hiroaki Obata, 41, along with three other members, comes as investigators probe the massive ring’s suspected ties to organized crime, reports TBS News (May 28).
Obata and one other member were re-arrested on suspicion of illegally introducing a woman in her 20s to work at a commercial sex establishment in Matsudo City, Chiba Prefecture, in 2022.
In addition to the re-arrests, police newly arrested two others, including 27-year-old Sho Ki An, an executive tasked with collecting the group’s funds. An and his accomplice are accused of concealing approximately 39.2 million yen in illicit prostitution revenues by fabricating receipts under a different person’s name.
Obata is no stranger to law enforcement, having been arrested multiple times in connection with his nationwide illicit scouting operations.
During the recent first hearing of a separate trial regarding the illegal placement of a woman at a sex parlor in Takasaki City, Gunma Prefecture, three years ago, Obata admitted to the charges.
Tokyo police are continuing to dismantle the syndicate’s operational structure. Investigators strongly suspect that a significant portion of Natural’s lucrative profits is being funneled directly to the yakuza, and are working to uncover the full extent of the money flow.
