TOKYO (TR) – Tokyo Metropolitan Police have arrested a former organized crime member over the alleged attempted extortion of department store Daimaru Tokyo, reports TBS News (Oct. 26).
On October 21, Tsutomu Sakamoto, 65, allegedly posed a current member of a criminal syndicate in demanding money in return for grapes bought for 7,020 yen in the fruit section of the store, located at JR Tokyo Station, that he claimed were rotten.
In carrying out the crime, the suspect threatened a 47-year-old male employee, asking him he wanted to accompany him to the gang’s office, police said.
Sakamoto partially denies the allegations. “I posed as a member of the Sumiyoshi-kai,” the suspect was quoted by police in referring to one of Japan’s largest criminal syndicates, “but I did not demand money or goods.”
