TOKYO (TR) – Tokyo Metropolitan Police working off a tip have arrested two suspected members of a fraud ring that is believed to have swindled dozens of persons in a scam related to the national lottery, reports TV Asahi (Aug. 8).
In August and September, 2014, Haruyuki Kitagawa and Takuya Sugiyama, both 32, worked with accomplices in swindling a woman living in Odawara City, Kanagawa Prefecture, then 71, out of a total of 4.5 million yen in cash by falsely claiming to provide winning numbers for the Loto 6 drawing.
According to a previous report, the suspects are believed to be part of a 10-member fraud ring that swindled more than 100 persons out of at least 300 million yen since July of 2014. In December of that year, police put Kitagawa and Sugiyama and two other suspects on a nationwide wanted list on suspicion of fraud. Last year, police made four arrests in the case.
On August 6, police apprehended Kitagawa and Sugiyama at a pachinko parlor in Chiba Prefecture after receiving a tip indicating that they frequent the establishment. Both suspects deny the allegations, police said.
Police are still searching for 34-year-old Katsutoshi Shimabara as a part of the investigation.
