TOKYO (TR) – Tokyo Metropolitan Police have arrested a female national of the Philippines for allegedly posing as an American man in the online swindle of a woman, reports TV Asahi (Sept. 24).
Police allege that Josephine Zagudo Takahashi, 47, worked with accomplices to defraud the woman, a resident of Chofu City, out of 11.25 million yen in cash.
“I didn’t take anything,” the suspect told the Chofu Police Station in partially denying the allegations. “I followed the instructions of another person.”
In carrying out the ruse, Takahashi posed as a wealthy American man on a social-networking service while communicating with the victim, police said.
After first implying romance, the suspect suggested a business relationship. “You need to open a bank account so that we can do business jointly,” she reportedly wrote.
