OSAKA (TR) – A man accused of defrauding a woman over a staged traffic accident died in custody last year.
On the afternoon of October 17, a police officer found Naoki Nagano, 47, lying on his back and not moving in the holding cell at the Katano Police Station. He was confirmed dead about an hour later at the hospital where he was taken.
The day before, police had arrested Nagano and four female suspects on suspicion of fraud. According to Fuji News Network, Nagano was living inside a cramped apartment in Osaka City with the four ladies — a literal harem.
The apartment is located near the popular Tsutenkaku Tower. Measuring a mere 31 square meters, it had two double beds and a sofa. Nagano is believed to have used it as a base of operations for five months.
One of the ladies is Nagano’s 42-year-old wife, Emi. The other three female suspects are her former middle school classmates.
The crime that led to their arrests involved the swindling of another woman, who is an acquaintance of 42-year-old suspect Kanako Ishii.
Ishii falsely told the victim that she had been in a car accident and needed 800,000 yen. The suspect also said that she would pay back the money back in two months.
When the victim arrived to meet Ishii, a group of men posing as lawyers were there to greet her. She was then defrauded out of a total of 2.1 million yen, which was paid out in six installments.
Before his death, Nagano declined to explain to reporters why he was sharing the residence with four women.
Upon her arrest, Emi denied the allegations. However, the other four suspects generally admitted to the charges, police said at the time.
