THE ASAHI SHIMBUN
May 19, 2022 at 17:49 JST
OSAKA--Prefectural police here said they have placed a “romance scam” ringleader on an international wanted list for posing as foreign women and duping apparently desperate men into sending him money.
Police on May 18 released a mug shot of the fraud suspect, Hikaru Morikawa, 58.
His address and occupation are unknown, but police said Morikawa’s fraud group is based in Ghana and he is likely hiding overseas. His details have been sent to Interpol.
According to the international investigation department of the prefectural police and the Sonezaki Police Station in Osaka city, Morikawa swindled a total of around 1.5 million yen ($11,661) from two men.
Morikawa pretended to be a female doctor with the United Nations and a female writer in the United States to win the affection of the men and persuade them to transfer money, police said.
Morikawa likely communicated with the two men through matchmaking apps, and they never saw his real face.
Investigators also said they sent papers to the Osaka District Public Prosecutors Office against two others who conspired with Morikawa to defraud a woman living in Tokyo of about 340,000 yen.
The two suspects are a waterproofing worker, 52, in Yokohama, and the leader of a yakuza gang affiliated with the Sumiyoshi-kai crime syndicate in Tokyo’s Shinjuku Ward.
The gang leader, who died in February at the age of 56, likely played a role in laundering money obtained in the scams in Japan, police said.
So far, police have arrested 13 suspected members of the international romance scam group and sent their cases to prosecutors.
They are believed to have defrauded 30 people, causing several hundred million yen in total damages.
The swindled money is believed to have been sent to Ghana, police said.
Police arrest man who refused to return 46 million yen to his town
May 19, 2022
Pair suspected of swindling older ‘dates’ in Osaka of 23 million yen
September 29, 2021
Busted ex-Diet member used long-expired JR Pass for free seats
May 12, 2022
Japan Steel Works faked turbine-product data for 24 years
May 10, 2022
VOX POPULI: Praying for the return of clams and clammers in southern Kyushu
May 5, 2022
Mitsubishi Electric admits to faking test data on transformers
April 22, 2022
Here is a collection of first-hand accounts by “hibakusha” atomic bomb survivors.
A peek through the music industry’s curtain at the producers who harnessed social media to help their idols go global.
Cooking experts, chefs and others involved in the field of food introduce their special recipes intertwined with their paths in life.
A series based on diplomatic documents declassified by Japan’s Foreign Ministry
A series about Japanese-Americans and their memories of World War II
Hikaru Morikawa is suspected of defrauding romance-seeking men by pretending to be a woman. (Provided by Osaka prefectural police)
