TOKYO (TR) – Tokyo Metropolitan Police have arrested a 70-year-old man for allegedly swindling an elderly woman out of 10 million yen by pitching a fictitious insurance contract, reports Fuji News Network (July 14).
Katsutomo Kikuchi, a self-employed resident of Yamato City, Kanagawa Prefecture, is accused of defrauding a woman in her 70s from Machida City, in June 2021.
According to police, Kikuchi posed as an agent for major property insurer Aioi Nissay Dowa Insurance. He allegedly lured the victim into signing a fake “special endowment insurance” contract with a false promise, telling her, “If you deposit 10 million yen for three years, it will earn 1 percent interest.”
To make the bogus transaction appear legitimate, Kikuchi handed the woman a forged deposit receipt after collecting the cash.
Investigators revealed that Kikuchi had actually held a legitimate agency contract with Aioi Nissay Dowa Insurance until October 2020. He was acquainted with the victim from his time as an authorized agent and exploited this prior relationship to gain her trust.
Upon his arrest, Kikuchi admitted to the allegations, telling investigators, “That is mostly correct.”
Police believe Kikuchi may have targeted multiple other victims using similar methods and are continuing their investigation into further crimes.
