KANAGAWA (TR) – Kanagawa and Gifu prefectural police have arrested six men and women who are suspected of laundering funds recovered from a fraud ring, reports the Asahi Shimbun (Feb. 4).
According to police Kaori Fukui, 49, from Hyogo Prefecture, and five others, are suspected of taking funds from a so-called “tokushu sagi” ring and converting them to cryptocurrency.
According to police, Fukui and the five others are suspected of laundering 15.5 million yen from a man in his 60s living in Gifu in August and September 2022.
In obtaining the funds, a person pretended to be a telecommunications company employee and falsely informed him that he had unpaid app fees.
“Your mobile phone ID has been misused and you have suffered losses. You must pay compensation,” the caller falsely said.
Police suspect that the funds were transferred to 16 accounts and exchanged for cryptocurrencies, which the six suspets further converted into other cryptocurrencies.
A tokushu sagi scam, or specialized fraud, is carried out on the telephone by a caller impersonating an authority figure or the victim’s relative.
Fukui is believed to have used confidential smartphone apps to requested five others to launder the funds.
Prefectural police have not disclosed whether the six have admitted to the charges.
Police in both prefectures have determined that the six suspects are so-called “relationship brokers” who launder money by converting crime victim funds into cryptocurrencies.
This group is believed to have been involved in laundering hundreds of millions of yen obtained from dozens of people who fell victim to tokushu sagi scams.
