TOKYO (TR) – Law enforcement calls the ring the “Tosatsu Hunters,” a label derived from their penchant for swindling perverts who take illicit photographs of women.
On Tuesday, Tokyo Metropolitan Police announced the arrest of another suspected member, 24-year-old Kannosuke Sagara, reports TBS News (Mar. 5).
According to police, Sagara worked with another member, Shinnosuke Soma, 25, who is already in custody, for swindling a male company employee aged in his 30s out of 7.5 million yen in cash in May of last year.
In carrying out the crime, the suspects accused the victim of taking tosatsu photography up the skirt of a woman on a staircase at JR Ikebukuro Station in Toshima Ward.
“You’ll need to pay compensation to her parents,” one of the suspects threatened the victim. “If you pay, we won’t go to the police.”
Sagara partially denies the allegations. Meanwhile, Soma admits to the charges, police said.
Police first arrested Soma last month. In that case, he was accused of demanding 95 million yen from the same victim in a separate incident that took place at the same station on February 6.
That same day, a clerk at a bank tipped off police after noticing the victim behaving suspiciously as he attempted to withdraw 30 million yen from his account. Two days later, officers apprehended Soma when he went to meet the victim near Nerima-Takanodai Station on the Seibu Ikebukuro Line.
Over the past year, police have arrested several other members of the Tosatsu Hunters for the same crime, which often takes place at JR Ikebukuro Station.
