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Tokyo cops nab female celebrity in ¥6.5 million land-purchase fraud

Chikage Tomita as 'Chikage Fujikawa'
Chikage Tomita as ‘Chikage Fujikawa’ (diamondblog.jp)

TOKYO (TR) – Tokyo Metropolitan Police on Thursday announced the arrest of a female celebrity for allegedly swindling a company out of more than six million yen in a land-purchase scam, reports the Asahi Shimbun (June 16).

In October of 2014, Chikage Tomita, 45, allegedly fabricated an invoice from a real estate company to show evidence of ownership of a property. The suspect then presented the document to a management company for nursery schools in order to collect a commission fee of 6.5 million yen for the property’s purchase by the company. 

At the time of incident, Tomita is believed to have been engaged in an extra-marital affair with Takashi Kagaya, a 45-year-old employee at the management company, according to Fuji News Network (June 16). The payment was transferred from the company into an account belonging to a family member of Tomita.

Kagaya, who was also arrested, was terminated from his position at the company after an internal investigation conducted in May of last year revealed the fraud.

Tomita, who has been charged with fraud and forgery, denies the charges.

Police suspect that Tomita and Kagaya used similar methods to defraud other persons out of approximately 20 million yen.

Tomita has a career in entertainment under the name “Chikage Fujikawa.” She regularly appears on television variety programs and in fashion magazines.

In 2011, she was one of 18 finalists in the “2nd National Beautiful Witches Contest,” which is a beauty pageant featuring women in their late 30s and beyond.