TOKYO (TR) – Tokyo Metropolitan Police on Wednesday announced the bust of marriage fraud ring headed by a company president, reports Fuji News Network (Nov. 4).
Police arrested Kazuki Hayashi, the 35-year-old head of an IT firm based in Tachikawa City, for defrauding a woman who attended a konkatsu matchmaking party in Tokyo in April.
Jun Tanaka, an employee at Hayashi’s company, met the woman, aged in her 30s, at the event. He subsequently implied that they would get married and deceived her into giving him eight million yen in cash on May 7.
Tanaka, who is married, was arrested in October. He told the woman that the money was a loan for his “business in New York,” according to Jiji Press (Oct. 15).
During the investigation, emails between Tanaka and Hayashi revealed the involvement of the president as the ringleader in the scam. The same woman gave the pair an additional three million yen and gifts, such an iPad tablet and an expensive wristwatch.
Hayashi, who has been charged with fraud, admits to having heard the name of the victim but denies receiving any money. Tanaka, who faces the same charges, has refused to speak about the allegations, according to NHK (Nov. 4).
Police believe that the suspects used similar tactics to swindle another woman out of more than 1 billion yen.