THE ASAHI SHIMBUN
February 9, 2023 at 16:31 JST
A suspected leader of both a robbery ring and a fraud group set up shop in the Philippines after a delivery of cash to his base in Thailand was thwarted in 2017, investigative sources said.
The suspect, Yuki Watanabe, 38, was arrested by Tokyo police after being deported from the Philippines, along with Tomonobu Kojima, 45, on Feb. 9. They are suspects in a series of robberies.
Two other Japanese suspects in the fraud investigation were arrested by Tokyo police after being deported from the Philippines on Feb. 7.
The fraud group allegedly defrauded mainly elderly people in Japan of about 37 million yen ($281,000) in cash. Tokyo’s Metropolitan Police Department suspects Watanabe led the group.
Before making the Philippines his base, Watanabe was living in Thailand, the sources said, citing immigration records.
In December 2017, a woman carrying 36.92 million yen in cash in her bag was stopped by police officers at Chubu Airport in Aichi Prefecture before she could board a flight bound for Bangkok.
Police suspect the woman was attempting to bring the money to Watanabe at his base in Thailand.
According to the sources, the cash had been withdrawn in Japan using cash cards stolen by the fraud group in October and November that year.
The 36.92 million yen was confiscated and will be redistributed to the fraud victims, the sources said.
In November 2019, Philippine authorities uncovered the fraud group’s base in an abandoned hotel in Manila.
They detained 36 Japanese nationals who are believed to have engaged in fraudulent phone communications with victims in Japan.
In the “tokushu sagi,” or special fraud, investigation, police began suspecting that Watanabe had used a base in Thailand.
In April 2019, Watanabe’s girlfriend in Japan visited him in the Philippines and gave him 20 million yen in cash gained from the fraud scheme, the sources said. She has been sentenced to prison for her role in the scams.
In the phone calls to their targets, group members used nearly 40 fake names and pretended to be from more than 50 organizations, including police stations, monetary authorities and cash card service centers, according to an official police notice.
They deceived people by saying, “Cash has been illegally withdrawn from your account,” and, “An employee of a financial institution is involved in a fraud case and your bank account has been targeted.”
Other members of the group then visited the victims’ homes and obtained their cash cards by showing fake police IDs or other “evidence.” The stolen cards were used to withdraw cash from their accounts.
Girlfriend of fraud suspect repeatedly took cash to Manila
February 1, 2023
Police arrest 2 deported fraud suspects while on flight to Japan
February 7, 2023
2 fraud suspects in Manila face deportation to Japan on Feb. 7
February 6, 2023
Japan officially asks Philippines to deport ‘Luffy,’ three others
January 31, 2023
Source: ‘Luffy’ held in center where bribes buy comfort, phones
January 30, 2023
Even in detention, fraud suspects living it up in Philippines
February 7, 2023
Stories about memories of cherry blossoms solicited from readers
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 on the death of a Japanese woman that sparked a debate about criminal justice policy in the United States
A series about Japanese-Americans and their memories of World War II
Here is a collection of first-hand accounts by “hibakusha” atomic bomb survivors.
This abandoned hotel in Manila, shown here in December 2019, is believed to have been used by 36 Japanese nationals in a fraud group. (Hidemasa Yoshizawa)
