KANAGAWA (TR) – Kanagawa Prefectural Police have arrested three men for allegedly laundering money obtained from overseas online casino wagers to multiple accounts under their control, reports NHK (Feb. 4).
Hideaki Yoshiwara, 44-year-old resident of Tokyo’s Bunkyo Ward, Kazuki Yoshii, 53, and Kazuyuki Takahashi, 47, are suspected of laundering a total of approximately 4.2 billion yen in online casino bets and other amounts between June and July of last year.
Police have not revealed whether the suspects admit to violating the Organized Crime Punishment Act.
According to the Yamato Police Station, Yoshiwara and his associates repeatedly transferred funds using approximately 500 accounts under the names of corporations and other entities they managed.
The bets and other funds flowed to six online casinos based overseas. The casinos are believed to have accrued approximately 90 billion yen in sales from domestic customers over a one-year period ending in July of last year.
Yoshihara and his associates were responsible for handling bets and other transactions with online casino users. They are believed to have received approximately 4.7 billion yen as commissions over that same period.
Gambling at overseas online casinos is illegal in Japan. As a result, bets are considered criminal proceeds. The suspects in this case are believed to have acted as agents for the casino operators by receiving bets and making refunds.
