TOKYO (TR) – Tokyo Metropolitan Police have arrested a 30-year-old prostitute for extorting a potential customer in the Kabukicho red-light district of Shinjuku Ward, reports Jiji Press (Nov. 4).
At approximately 2:00 a.m. on September 27, Yukie Shimoyachi allegedly threatened a 24-year-old male office worker into paying a “cancellation fee” of 50,000 yen.
Shimoyachi, who was apprehended at the end of last month on charges of extortion, denies the charges, telling police that she did not make any threats.
Just prior to the incident, a street tout had lured the victim by saying he could offer a prostitute who would provide honban, or full sex, which is illegal under the Anti-Prostitution Law. He then paid paid 29,000 yen to the broker and was directed to a nearby rental accommodation.
At the accommodation, the suspect offered the victim various service options for additional charges, including a basic course (65,000 yen) and a VIP plan (100,000 yen). She also told the victim that he could cancel the arrangement for 50,000 yen.
The suspect then took the victim to a nearby convenience to withdraw the cancellation fee from an automatic-teller machine.
Since the start of the year, police have received 450 complaints from victims of scams involving the use of rental accommodations.