OSAKA (TR) – Over the summer, Osaka Prefectural Police have been carrying out a lengthy investigation into a suspected investment fraud conducted on social media by two rings, resulting in 96 arrests.
Police are further seeking one final key member behind the ruse, which has caused hundreds of millions of yen in damage to its victims. The National Police Agency says that the case is one example of a special crime that is rapidly taking off nationwide.
Over the past week, police took Yuki Kamiie, 30, Kimiyoshi Yoshioka, 29, and Yudai Nakao, 26, into custody on suspicion of fraud. Between February and March, the pair allegedly used social media to swindle a woman in her 20s living in Aichi Prefecture out of 900,000 yen in cash.
After surrendering, one of the three suspects said, “It’s on the news, so there’s no point in running away,” according to TV Asahi (Aug. 20).
Simultaneous raids
According to police, the two rings defrauded victims via chat rooms on social media under the pretext of investing in transactions known as binary options, which involves the predicting of fluctuations in foreign exchange rates.
On July 26, officers conducted simultaneous raids of 10 locations across Osaka City used by the rings to conduct operations. To that point, police had already arrested 90 members, aged between 19 and 45. Fifty of them have already been released.
Kamiie served as the head of collections of defrauded funds, with suspects like Yoshida and Miyawaki deemed “uchiko,” which is a person tasked with receiving the money from victims. Yoshioka served as the treasurer.
At the time of the raids, police were seeking the whereabouts of Yoshioka, Kamiie, Shinya Nakamura, the 41-year-old suspected ringleader , Sho Miyawaki, 29, and 25-year-old Mayu Yoshida. Only Nakamura now remains at large.
“Anna Yoshizaki”
Police have also accused Nakao and Yoshida of attempting to defraud a male office worker in Tokyo out of 370,000 yen. In carrying out the ruse, they posed online under the name “Anna Yoshizaki,” reports Mainichi Broadcasting System (Aug. 21).
Their fraud group divided its operations into detailed teams based on poker terms such as “ace” and “all-in,” and the Nakao and Yoshida headed the teams.
Seized smartphones revealed that the two were giving instructions in group chats to uchiko members who would communicate with the victims on social media.
The estimated total amount lost by at least 150 victims to members of the ring is close to 1 billion yen. Police have not revealed whether the suspects admit to the crimes.
On the rise
Investment fraud conducted via social media has been increasing rapidly in recent years, according to the National Police Agency, reports Yomiuri Television (Aug. 14).
In some cases, the perpetrators impersonate famous people — and they have been successful.
Between January and June, the number of victims nationwide was 3,570, an increase of 2,969 cases from the same period last year, the agency said. The total damage was approximately 50.6 billion yen, which represents an increase of 43.7 billion yen from the same period last year.
