TOKYO (TR) – The Supreme Court has ordered the boss of the Sumiyoshi-kai to pay compensation to two victims of fraud carried out by underlings of the gang, reports NHK (Mar. 12).
On Friday, the court upheld a previous ruling in ordering the chairman Isao Seki and former chairman Hareaki Fukuda to pay 7 million yen in compensation.
The court ruled Seki and Fukuda were responsible for the crime even though underlings carried it out. The order is based on a revision to the Anti-Organized Crime Law. It is the first time that it has been applied to the boss of a criminal syndicate.
The type of crime is known as tokushu sagi, in which victims are targeted over the telephone.
In 2019, the Mito District Court in Ibaraki Prefecture ordered Seki and Fukuda to pay 6 million yen since the funds obtained in the fraud “were used to strengthen the gang.” The Tokyo High Court later upheld the ruling in the first appeal.
