AICHI (TR) – Okayama and Ehime prefectural police divisions on Wednesday applied fresh charges to ten persons already in custody in connection with the operation of a Ponzi scheme that included more than 10,000 members, reports the Nikkei Shimbun (Mar. 5).
Over a roughly one-year period ending in August, 2017, Masato Doko, the 41-year-old chairman of Texsear Japan Holdings, allegedly defrauded six men and women, aged between 37 and 82 and living in Okayama and Ehime prefectures, out of a total of 94 million yen.
In carrying out the ruse, the suspects claimed to the victims that they would receive interest of 3 percent on investments in increments of one million yen. In February, Aichi police accused the same 10 suspects of swindling three persons living in Aichi out of 64 million yen.
Among the nine other persons in custody are Tokiji Nakamura, a 66-year-old member of the Kodo-kai, which is an affiliate gang of the Yamaguchi-gumi, and Teruhisa Miyoshi, a 60-year-old former member of the Okayama Prefectural Police.
According to a previous report, Texsear Japan Holdings operated like a pyramid scheme, with members tasked with soliciting funds for supposed investment from within specific regions across the country.
The company held seminars titled “The Assembly to Energize Japan” for solicitation in various locations. Members were also wooed with luncheons and trips. However, dividends on investments stopped being paid around September, 2017.
In July of last year, police began raiding locations connected to Texsear Japan Holdings. All told, police suspect that the company collected around 46 billion yen from about 13,000 members.
