TOKYO (TR) – A boss of an organized crime group accused in the quick-strike theft of nearly two billion yen from ATMs nationwide last year will not be prosecuted, it was learned on Wednesday, reports TBS News (Mar. 29).
The Tokyo District Court did specify a reason for the non-prosecution of Fumio Izumi, the 49-year-old boss of the Izumi-gumi, an affiliate gang of the Yamaguchi-gumi. He was believed to have given instructions to at least one associate in the use of forged credit cards in the withdrawal of 3.5 million yen from ATMs at convenience stores in Shibuya Ward and other locations on May 15.
However, investigative sources revealed that there was no clear evidence linking Izumi to having given such orders.
Izumi was considered a part of a gang of thieves that used similarly forged credit cards with data leaked from a bank in South Africa to steal approximately 1.86 billion yen from ATMs nationwide in 2.5 hours on that same day.
The thieves targeted more than 1,400 ATMs in convenience stores in 17 administrative districts, including Tokyo and the prefectures of Kanagawa, Aichi, Osaka and Fukuoka.
Police have previously arrested more than 170 persons in the case, including members of six criminal syndicates.
