TOKYO (TR) – Prosecutors have announced the non-prosecution of three men who were suspected in thefts in which they posed as electricians, reports NHK (July 22).
On April 30, Ryota Matsumoto, 28, Shuta Aoyama, 26, and the third suspect visited the residence of a 71-year-old woman living alone in Ome City.
After they falsely told the woman that they were electricians “working on a power outage in the area,” two of them went upstairs with the woman. Meanwhile, the third stole 37,000 yen in cash from her purse on the first floor.
All three of the suspects denied the allegations upon their arrest in July. One said, “I came [to the residence] for reform work.”
On Monday, the Tokyo District Public Prosecutor’s Office announced the non-prosecution of the trio. No reason for the non-prosecution was given.
According to police, the same ruse was used in 27 known cases in the capital over the first six months of the year.
Police believed that the suspects collected 14 million yen in nine of those cases.