TOKYO (TR) – Seven members of a payment processing syndicate have been re-arrested for allegedly concealing over 114 million yen in illegal online casino bets by funneling the money through dummy corporations and a religious organization’s bank account, reports Nippon News Network (Aug. 5).
Police arrested Yuta Suzuki, an executive of the payment processing group Tenmei, along with six other men and women on suspicion of violating the Act on Punishment of Organized Crimes.
According to investigative sources, between January and April of last year, Suzuki and his accomplices allegedly concealed 114,736,641 yen in wagers collected from 5,187 customers playing on overseas online casinos.
The scale of the group’s operation was massive. Since 2019, the syndicate is believed to have processed a staggering 340 billion yen in illegal gambling funds, skimming a 1 to 3 percent commission as their profit.
To evade detection by authorities, the group instructed customers to deposit their bets into accounts held by dummy corporations. The funds were then wired to overseas bases affiliated with the casino sites.
Investigators revealed that the group obtained these bank accounts by soliciting “easy side jobs” on social media, essentially hijacking the personal accounts of those who applied. In addition to dummy corporations, the syndicate also utilized bank accounts belonging to legitimate entities—most notably, an actual religious corporation.
Suzuki and his six accomplices were previously arrested last month for habitually facilitating gambling for six customers at overseas online casinos.
Police have not disclosed whether the suspects have admitted to the charges. Meanwhile, investigators are currently hunting for the group’s top mastermind, who is believed to be operating from overseas.
