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Yamaguchi-gumi boss arrested in fake company registration

Kenji Eguchi
Kenji Eguchi

OSAKA (TR) – Hyogo Prefectural Police on Tuesday announced the arrest of an upper member of the Yamaguchi-gumi for attempting to register a fake company, reports TBS News (Oct. 20).

In March of 2011, Kenji Eguchi, a 62-year-old member of the Wakagashi Hosa, an affiliate gang of the Yamaguchi-gumi, is alleged to have attempted to register a construction company that does not exist with Osaka’s legal affairs bureau.

In filing the paperwork, the address used for the company was the same as that of the Kenshin-kai, which is another Yamaguchi-gumi affiliate based in Osaka’s Naniwa Ward.

Police also arrested Kenshin-kai member Koji Sakamoto, 46, for participating in the scheme. Both suspects have denied the allegations, according to Jiji Press (Oct. 20).

The Kobe-based Yamaguchi-gumi, which is Japan’s largest organized crime group, split last month. Law enforcement has since raided the headquarters of a number of its affiliate gangs and those of its newly formed rival gang, the Kobe Yamaguchi-gumi.

The arrest of Eguchi is the first of an upper member of the Yamaguchi-gumi since the gang’s break up.

Eguchi also serves as the top boss of the Kenshin-kai.