TOKYO (TR) – Tokyo Metropolitan Police estimate that a bar operator in the Roppongi entertainment district swindled foreigners out of more than 100 million yen annually since 2013, reports the Sankei Shimbun (July 28).
One case took place last September 26. That night, Rifat Hossain, a 40-year-old Bangladeshi national who managed bar NY Bay, allegedly misappropriated the credit card of a male 42-year-old British national for about 930,000 yen.
Police allege that Hossain presented the victim with a fabricated bill containing food and drink items he did not order.
Upon his arrest on suspicion of electronic fraud on Monday, Hossain declined to comment on the allegations, the Azabu Police Station said.
Seventh arrest
The arrest is the seventh for Hossain. Police had previously accused him and two other employees of NY Bay of attempted robbery in the incident involving the British national.
After the fraudulent payment was made with the credit card, the suspects demanded that the victim pay more in cash. The suspects then allegedly pinned him down and beat him in the face and threatened him.
Hossain employed a 25-year-old female Chinese national. She got to know the victim, who came to Japan for the Rugby World Cup, through a matchmaking application.
The incident began when the Chinese national met him at a hotel lobby. After she brought him to the bar, he became extremely drunk when he was forced to drink very strong alcohol, police said previously.
Austrian case
The Chinese national is among the suspects in the attempted robbery case. In another incident, she also allegedly worked with Hossain in the assault and robbery of a male Austrian national in April of last year.
After plying the Austrian, then 46, with strong alcohol, the suspects allegedly beat him in the back of the head before robbing him of 50,000 yen in cash and a wristwatch valued at around 1 million yen.
Based on bank accounts connected to NY Bay, police estimate that employees swindled around 1,300 foreigners out of 660 million yen over the past six and a half years.
As a part of the investigation, investigators seized bank books, credit cards and mobile telephones.
The third employee in the attempted robbery case, a 62-year-old female Japanese national, previously told police, “We were planning to target foreigners during the Tokyo Olympics.”
