Photo/Illutration The Metropolitan Police Department’s headquarters in Tokyo’s Chiyoda Ward (Asahi Shimbun file photo)

A joint police task force on July 9 arrested the suspected ringleader of a group behind at least 20 fraudulent money transfers totaling about 120 million yen ($746,000).

Yohei Yano, 44, is suspected of hacking into the server of a major bank using another person’s online banking ID and password in January 2023.

Investigative sources did not say whether he has admitted to or denied the allegations.

Nine others were already arrested.

Yano’s arrest follows a joint investigation by the National Police Agency’s cybercrime team and Tokyo’s Metropolitan Police Department.

According to the team, each member of the group played a specific role, such as executing the money transfers, hijacking people’s smartphones, and creating accounts for crypto assets.

The fraud ring illegally transferred money from the victims’ bank accounts to accounts at a crypto asset exchange, the team said.

Yano and the group members are believed to have met through social networking sites.

The team said it is working to uncover the full extent of the group’s actions.

The number of victims of online banking fraud has been increasing.

The investigation team said it is difficult to establish the chain of command of such criminal fraud groups.

The team said this is the first time an entire group involved in online banking fraud, including the leader, has been arrested.

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