TOKYO (TR) – Police on Monday announced the arrest of the mastermind of a fraud ring that is believed to have swindled victims nationwide out of 400 million yen, reports the Sankei Shimbun (Feb. 18).
According to police, Naoya Fukuda, 34, worked together with Kazuo Miyakoshi and his wife Harumi, both 52, and their daughter Yuria, 22, to defraud an 81-year-old woman living in Fukui City, Fukui Prefecture.
Police had previously arrested Miyakoshi and his other two family members last year. All four suspects deny the allegations, police said.
In swindling the woman, a member of ring posed as an employee of a securities company in telling her over the telephone that she must settle a “loan-related problem.” The suspects then fraudulently obtained 10.5 million yen in cash from her in January and February of last year.
At one point during the carrying out of the crime, Harumi and Yuria stored the cash in a coin-operated locker, police said previously.
Police believe the ring, which includes a total of about 20 members, swindled victims nationwide out of around 400 million yen in 25 cases since July, 2017.
