TOKYO (TR) – Tokyo Metropolitan Police have arrested a 28-year-old member of a fraud ring who recruited persons to collect money from victims, reports TBS News (June 28).
In April, a 75-year-old woman living in Nerima Ward was told by a person posing as her son on the telephone that he needed money to cover losses on the stock market. A member of the fraud ring then collected 3.9 million yen in cash from the victim.
According to police, Shogo Ito, a resident of Komaki City, Aichi Prefecture, invited persons to serve as couriers tasked with retrieving cash from victims, including the aforementioned woman.
Ito, who has been accused of fraud, denies the allegations. “I made job introductions, but the work was not ore ore sagi,” said the suspect in referring to a type of fraud in which the victims are conned by persons posing as their relatives on the telephone.
Police are now investigating the suspect over possible participation in other crimes.