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NPO for homeless buys yakuza HQ in Kitakyushu

FUKUOKA (TR) – A non-profit organization has purchased the headquarters of a criminal syndicate in Kitakyushu City in order for compensation claims against the gang are paid, it has been learned, reports Kyodo News (Feb. 6).

The NPO Hoboku, which assists the homeless, has agreed to purchase the headquarters of the Kudo-kai, located in Kokurakita Ward, for 100 million yen.

Hoboku plans to use the site as a base for supporting the needy, operating a cafeteria for children and creating a gathering place for the elderly.

Since November, 2014, the Fukuoka Prefectural Public Safety Commission has prohibited gang members from entering the headquarters.

Preparation for the sale began last year, when staff members from Kitakyushu City, real estate appraisers and members of the gang examined what was then a four-floor, 1,752-square-meter concrete structure.

The structure has since been demolished in an attempt to remove the property’s dark past, according to the city.

The Kudo-kai has until the end of the month to clear the site and hand it over a Fukuoka Prefectural Center for Removal of Criminal Organizations, which will then sell it to Hoboku.

The site of the headquarters of the Kudo-kai will be taken over by an NPO

Murder and tax evasion

Over the past several years, police have accused Satoru Nomura, the boss of the Kudo-kai, over a number of crimes, including murder, attempted murder and tax evasion.

In some of those cases, Nomura is currently being targeted through the courts for large compensation payments. A payment of 84 million yen is sought over the stabbing of a dentist in 2014. In another case, a payment of 30 million yen is sought for the shooting of a former detective in 2012.

A court already awarded a payment of 78 million for the murder of a fishery cooperative president in Kitakyushu in 1998.

Last year, the Fukuoka District Court permitted the seizure of 75 million yen inside Nomura’s bank accounts — including a postal account — to cover a compensation claim of 79.73 million yen by a “snack” hostess who was slashed in the face by a knife-wielding assailant in 2012.