Photo/Illutration The Miyagi prefectural police department is investigating what is believed to be the largest individual fraud case in the prefecture. (Asahi Shimbun file photo)

SENDAI—A man posing as a police officer defrauded a woman in her 70s of 200 million yen ($1.27 million) in gold bars and 10 million yen in cash, investigators said.

This is believed to be the largest single fraud case targeting an individual in Miyagi Prefecture, they added.

According to police, the woman received a phone call at her home here on Nov. 18 from a man claiming to be “Detective Uchiyama” from the Toyohira Police Station in Hokkaido.

The man told her a recently arrested leader of a money laundering ring had identified her as a collaborator, and that the suspect said he had rewarded her for her criminal activities.

The fake police officer also claimed that the now-panicky woman’s cash card had been found in the leader’s home.

The con man further convinced the woman that he needed to investigate her assets to prove her innocence. Under this pretext, he requested that she submit her possessions and transfer money.

To prevent the woman from seeking help from others, the man sent her a photo of a fake police order of confidentiality.

As directed by the scammer, the woman left a bag containing 13 kilograms of gold bars at a neighborhood park on Nov. 27.

By Dec. 19, she had also transferred a total of about 10 million yen to a designated bank account on two occasions.

The victim realized she had been swindled after reading an online news story about another fraud case involving a man claiming to be Detective Uchiyama, police said.

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