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Tochigi: Ex-employee at JTB subsidiary suspected in ¥2.4 billion fraud

TOCHIGI (TR) – Tochigi Prefectural Police have arrested a former employee of a subsidiary of travel agency JTB Corp. who is suspected of swindling dozens of persons out of 2.4 billion yen in a currency exchange scam, reports the Sankei Shimbun (Aug. 8).

On March 20, 2016, Yoshinobu Tamura, 49, then an employee at JTB Kanto, defrauded a 58-year-old male executive in Maebashi City out of 10 million yen in cash by claiming the money would be exchanged for U.S. dollars in a scheme that would pay a dividend.

Tamura, who has been accused of fraud, partially denies the allegations. “I intended to return [the funds] when the deadline came,” the suspect was quoted by the Ashikaga Police Station.

Yoshinobu Tamura
Yoshinobu Tamura (Twitter)

According to police, the suspect is believed to have utilized similar means to swindle 51 persons out of around 2.4 billion yen between 2010 and June of 2016.

In July, 2016, Tamura surrendered to police. “The business I’ve been barely running has collapsed,” the suspect confessed. JTB Kanto later dismissed him.