TOKYO (TR) – Investigative sources with the Tokyo Metropolitan Police have revealed the arrest of two men who posed as police officers in the abduction and beating of the 30-year-old male president of a jewelry company last year, reports the Yomiuri Shimbun (Apr. 5).
According to the sources, Shori Aragaki, 31, and Toshiyuki Uchiyama, 27, claimed to be officers with the Gunma Prefectural Police while escorting the president into a vehicle from a road in Katsushika Ward on December 16.
After binding the arms and legs of the victim with adhesive tape, the suspects assaulted him, causing a skull fracture. “Hand over valuables,” one of them threatened.
After the wife of the executive provided about 45 million yen in cash and precious metals valued at around 34 million yen, the suspects released him in a mountainous area of Fujioka City, Gunma Prefecture on December 17.
On Wednesday, the Tokyo District Public Prosecutor’s Office prosecuted the suspects on suspicion of abduction for money-making purposes, confinement and robbery resulting in injury.
The defendants have declined to comment on the allegations, according to police.
Police are now investigating whether the defendants had accomplices.