TOKYO (TR) – Tokyo Metropolitan Police have arrested two men, including a member of a gang affiliated with the Sumiyoshi-kai, for allegedly defrauding an elderly woman of 10 million yen in cash, reports NHK (June 3)
Takashi Mori, a 30-year-old member of the Kohei-ikka, a subgroup of the Sumiyoshi-kai, is suspected of acting as a ringleader in a massive telephone fraud operation targeting the elderly.
According to police, the suspects targeted an 80-something woman living alone in Nerima Ward in January of last year.
Impersonating a relative over the phone, the scammers told the victim, “I took the wrong bag on the train. I need money for work.” She was then successfully swindled out of 10 million yen.
Police have not disclosed whether the suspects admit to the allegations.
The ukeko (collector) who visited the woman’s home to collect the cash, as well as the kaishu-yaku (courier) who gathered the funds, have already been arrested and indicted. Subsequent investigations revealed that Mori allegedly received the stolen money directly from the courier.
Police believe Mori and his accomplice orchestrated the broader fraud ring, which is suspected of carrying out 28 similar scams across Tokyo and Saitama Prefecture. Over a span of roughly a year ending last December, the group reportedly raked in an estimated 200 million yen.
Authorities noted that over 40 percent of yakuza members arrested for telephone fraud last year were affiliated with the Kohei-ikka and its subgroups.
In response, Tokyo police established a special task force this year to aggressively crack down on the syndicate’s illicit operations.
