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Yakuza gangsters received loans in Miyagi after earthquake, prefeture demands return

TOKYO (TR) – The social welfare council of Miyagi Prefecture said on Tuesday that it is demanding the return of 20 loans distributed to gangsters following the Great East Japan Earthquake in March, reports the Sankei Shimbun (Nov. 29).

In October, Miyagi prefectural police reported that 89 loans valued at 13.3 million yen were received by gangsters through the emergency welfare loan system, which provides a no-interest loan of up to 200,000 yen per household. Gangster exclusion laws prohibit the allocation of such loans.

The value of the 20 loans targeted by the council total approximately three million yen.

The Mainichi Shimbun reported in October that loan applications require a written declaration indicating that the applicant is not affiliated with a gang. Through July, police had arrested three gangsters for misrepresenting their identities.

According to the Sankei Shimbun, Miyagi Prefecture has received 40,000 loan applications. Thus far, 10,000 have been scrutinized for gangster-affiliated applicants. The prefecture expects the examination of the remaining 30,000 applications to take place during the current fiscal year.

The Asahi Shimbun reports that Fukushima Prefecture has discovered 170 loans allocated to gangsters on its books, bringing the known value of the loans for the two prefectures to 35 million yen.