TOKYO (TR) – Tokyo Metropolitan Police have arrested the 63-year-old former director of a pachinko-related association for allegedly causing approximately 175 million yen in losses through a brazen invoice-padding racket, reports TBS News (Nov. 4).
Tomoharu Koshino, the former director of Electronic Authentication System Association, is accused of conspiring with parts manufacturers to inflate billing on equipment used to manage pachinko ball-lending machines installed at parlors across Japan.
According to police, the scheme ran from 2022 through the following year, with the padded overcharges funneled directly into a shell company controlled by Koshino under the guise of “consulting fees.”
The suspect has admitted to the allegations of aggravated breach of trust, according to police.
Police said investigators believe the illicit proceeds were used to purchase at least one condominium. The full scope of the spending is under investigation.
The association is a nonprofit organization established to bring transparency to sales data at pachinko parlors. Under its operating model, parlors paid for equipment through the association, which then forwarded payments to manufacturers, a structure that investigators say Koshino exploited to manipulate invoices without detection.
Authorities believe Koshino did not stop at a single round of inflated billing. Tokyo police said they are now probing additional suspected offenses.
