TOKYO (TR) – Tokyo Metropolitan Police have arrested three men for allegedly swindling 200 million yen from two companies by pitching a bogus sale of rights to a wind power generation project in Hokkaido, reports the Mainichi Shimbun (July 22).
Zuisen Sugiura, 60, the de facto manager of an Ibaraki Prefecture-based agricultural corporation, was arrested on Wednesday alongside Keisuke Watanabe, 72, and Yuki Nakajima, 37, on suspicion of fraud.
According to police, the trio defrauded two Tokyo-based companies between April and May 2022. They allegedly collected 100 million yen from each company as a down payment for the transfer of rights to an onshore wind farm project.
Police have not disclosed whether the suspects have admitted to the charges.
Non-existent rights
Sugiura previously developed wind power projects, but had actually transferred the project rights to a Tokyo renewable energy firm in December 2019 — pocketing a staggering 1.85 billion yen in the process. However, his agricultural corporation, Mimori no Sato, continued to manage the sites on a consignment basis.
Exploiting his role as the site operator, Sugiura allegedly maintained the illusion that he still owned the rights. The trio then struck a deal to “sell” the non-existent rights to the two victimized companies for a massive 5 billion yen, securing the 200-million-yen deposit before the scam came to light.
The phantom sale centered around two planned wind farms in Hokkaido’s Tobetsu town and Ishikari City. The Tobetsu project was ultimately scrapped due to skyrocketing construction costs and rising interest rates. The Ishikari project remains active, though it currently faces heavy pushback from local residents concerned about environmental destruction.
FIT system
Industry insiders note that the renewable energy sector has become a magnet for shady operators. Following the 2012 introduction of the Feed-in Tariff (FIT) system, the buying and selling of approved power projects has become a highly lucrative market.
“Once a project clears land acquisition and environmental assessments, it’s completely normal for companies to swoop in and try to buy it,” an industry source said. “But as the industry has ballooned, it has left the door wide open for sketchy operators to slip in and exploit the system.”
