Photo/Illutration The suspect in a widespread visa scheme is accused of illegally obtaining business manager residency status through this fake car dealership in Fujisawa, Kanagawa Prefecture. (Kaoriko Okuda)

A 44-year-old Sri Lankan man was arrested on July 7 on suspicion of helping fellow Sri Lankans illegally obtain residency by submitting false corporate documents to immigration authorities.

According to police, Mohamed Irfan used a fake car dealership to create fraudulent financial statements in December 2023, allowing a Sri Lankan man to gain a business manager visa by posing as the company’s head.

Mohamed, a resident of Chigasaki, Kanagawa Prefecture, has denied the allegations.

This case is part of a broader investigation. Since May last year, police have identified at least nine Sri Lankans suspected of illegally obtaining residency status through Mohamed’s network.

Authorities believe the suspect operated a scheme using numerous shell companies to repeatedly falsify documents and secure immigration approval.

In many cases, Mohamed and his associates reportedly arranged for Sri Lankans to receive the engineer/specialist in humanities/international services visa–a status designated for skilled workers–by pretending they were employed by fake firms.

After a period of time, some individuals were then repositioned as company “executives” to apply for a business manager visa.

Police have seized records of about 600 businesses linked to Mohamed. Most are believed to be dummy companies with no real commercial activity. Authorities suspect many more fraudulent visas may have been issued using the same methods.

Victims of the scheme described being lured with false promises. Several of the nine Sri Lankans apprehended so far said they were told they could earn substantial money in Japan and eventually bring their families.

They reportedly paid between 500,000 yen ($3,400) and 1 million yen in broker fees just to enter the country.

Once in Japan, many ended up doing manual labor such as construction and demolition, far from the skilled jobs their visas were supposed to cover.

Some said they were charged additional fees by brokers in Japan, including for job placements and transportation, leading them to accumulate further debt. Many lived together in cramped, shared apartments to cut costs.

Those who entered Japan on tourist visas paid tens of thousands of yen in referral fees to be connected with a broker, or as fees for changing their visa status.

In cases where they obtained residency as executives of fake companies, additional charges–such as fees for fabricated documents–were added, bringing the total to more than 100,000 yen.

“I was tricked. I couldn’t even send money home,” one man told police. “But I had no choice because I needed to repay my debts.”

(This article was written by Kaoriko Okuda and Hiyori Kobayashi.)

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