TOKYO (TR) – Tokyo Metropolitan Police have arrested a member of a criminal syndicate over the alleged extortion of a sex business in the Akasaka entertainment area of Minato Ward, reports TV Asahi (Sept. 20).
Last November, Kazumi Sekimoto, a 56-year-old member of the Sumiyoshi-kai, allegedly accosted an employee of the business on a road and demanded payment of mikajimeryo, or “protection money.”
“If you do [business] around here, you have to pay up,” Sekimoto reportedly threatened. “There are no exceptions.”
Sekimoto denies the allegations. “I absolutely did not used the expression mikajimeryo,” the suspect was quoted by police.
Police are now investigating whether Sekimoto targeted other businesses with the same tactic.
