TOKYO (TR) – Tokyo Metropolitan Police have arrested four suspected members of a fraud ring that swindled 12 million yen from an elderly woman in Tama City earlier this month, TBS News (Apr. 28).
Earlier this month, the woman, aged in her 60s, was told on the telephone by a person posing as an employee of a welfare office that she had been involved in unauthorized loans. “Payments will be required to avoid legal proceedings,” the imposter said.
According to the Tsukiji Police Station, Shota Fuchigami, 34, and the other three suspects later collected 12 million yen from the woman.
During the investigation, police seized a list of about 3,000 names from a residence surrounded by paddy fields that is believed to have been the headquarters of the ring.
The suspects are only four of what is believed to be a dozen-person ring. The group is believed to have been behind about 30 similar crimes targeting elderly persons in which the damage totaled 200 million yen.
