TOKYO (TR) – Tokyo Metropolitan Police have arrested a 33-year-old executive of a fraud ring suspected of swindling more than 1.5 billion yen from over 1,000 victims nationwide through a bogus side-job scheme, reports TBS News (Sep. 24).
Ryo Akiyama, of unknown occupation from Minato Ward, turned himself in at the Mita Police Station on Wednesday. He faces charges of fraud and violating the Organized Crime Punishment Law.
The arrest stems from an incident in November of last year. Akiyama allegedly posed as an employee of a side-job mediation agency and targeted a woman in her 20s.
“To start a side job, you need to undergo screening by a guarantor company,” he reportedly told the victim. “We need you to remit a deposit in cryptocurrency.” He subsequently defrauded the woman out of crypto assets equivalent to 500,000 yen.
According to police, Akiyama served as a high-ranking executive overseeing the syndicate’s kakeko (telephone callers). His primary roles included recruiting new scammers and managing the group’s illicit revenues.
The syndicate is believed to have constantly shifted its operating bases across Tokyo to evade detection while baiting victims with false promises of lucrative supplemental income. Earlier this month, authorities arrested the group’s alleged leader and another key executive.
Police have not disclosed whether Akiyama has admitted to the allegations as they continue to unravel the full scope of the syndicate’s sprawling nationwide operations.
