TOKYO (TR) – Tokyo Metropolitan Police on Thursday announced the arrest of five men suspected in the swindling of dozens of businesses out of some 160 million yen through a cash-on-delivery scam, reports TBS News (May 20).
Police have arrested Eiji Ogura, 49, Haruhiko Ueda, 69, and three other suspects on suspicion of ordering and stealing 11 products worth 1.53 million yen from an industrial supplier in June.
Ueda and another suspect have admitted to the charges, while the remaining three are denying them, police said.
Posing as a home remodeling company, the members of the group partially paid for the delivery before going into hiding, police said.
Police are weighing additional charges, believing that the suspects used the same scam to defraud 40 companies of some 160 million yen worth of products such as electric toilet seats, air conditioners and massage chairs.
The suspects then resold the fraudulently obtained goods for about 60 precent of their market value, TV Asahi quoted police as saying (May 19).