TOKYO (TR) – Tokyo Metropolitan Police have arrested a 32-year-old member of a criminal syndicate over the alleged swindle of an elderly woman in Gifu Prefecture, reports NHK (Sept. 20).
Last October, Ryosuke Akita, a 32-year-old member of the Sumiyoshi-kai, an several accomplices are alleged to have swindled the woman, aged in her 70s, out of two million yen.
Akita, who has been accused of fraud, has declined to comment on the allegations, according to the Takenotsuka Police Station.
Akita is a member of a fraud ring. In carrying out the ruse, one member of the ring called the woman on the telephone to falsely say that she “was eligible to enter a retirement home,” an offer that “was confidential.”
A second member of the ring later called her to falsely say that she was liable for a fine of 2 million yen for violating the confidentiality agreement.
Several members of the ring then visited the residence to collect the money, police said.
Akita is believed to have provided orders to other members in the ring. Police suspect that the ring carried out the same crime in four other prefectures, including Fukui, Yamanashi, Niigata and Tochigi. The amount swindled from the victims totals around 60 million yen.
