TOKYO (TR) – Tokyo Metropolitan Police have arrested a man who is suspected of receiving the money robbed from a residence in Higashimurayama City last year, reports the Sankei Shimbun (Apr. 8).
According to police, the recipient of 4.7 million yen in cash is 35-year-old Kota Murakami, of no known occupation.
At around midnight on December 23, two other persons broke into the residence and bound the limbs of a man and his wife, both 84.
“Hand over the money,” one of them said while holding a knife. The pair then made off with the 4.7 million yen.
Six days later, they dropped off the cash at a location in Kanagawa Prefecture that was connected to Murakami, who then passed it on to a fourth person, police said.
“There’s no doubt that I moved the money around, but I wasn’t behind the robbery,” Murakami was quoted by police in partially denying the allegations.
According to police, the couple were victims of a scam known as apoden (appointment telephone). In such cases, the victims are asked about money and valuables on hand over the telephone prior to a home invasion or other crime.
The two perpetrators behind the robbery have already been prosecuted.
