TOKYO, Feb 26 (News On Japan) –
An actual property govt with alleged ties to an organized crime group was arrested on suspicion of defrauding aged victims by promoting residences at a number of instances their market worth and extracting giant sums of money, in a case that authorities say triggered whole losses exceeding 700 million yen.
A person walked out of a police station together with his head lowered as he left custody. The suspect is Kanichi Ishii, 42, consultant of an actual property firm and a senior member of a Sumiyoshi-kai–affiliated crime group.
Ishii is suspected of conspiring with seven others to promote residences to aged victims at costs a number of instances above market worth and defrauding them of money. Police consider whole damages within the case exceed 700 million yen.
Investigators say the group focused aged folks dwelling alone or affected by dementia and is believed to have obtained lists containing tens of 1000’s of aged people.
The alleged crimes befell in 2023. Ishii and his associates are suspected of convincing an 85-year-old man that he might earn steady rental revenue via property funding and persuading him that two properties he had bought for two.6 million yen and three million yen had been every value 20 million yen, in the end defrauding him of 40 million yen.
Including the incident resulting in the arrests, the group is believed to have defrauded almost 40 aged victims of greater than 700 million yen in whole.
Interviews with relations of an aged lady who mentioned she suffered comparable harm from Kotobuki Real Estate, the corporate headed by Ishii, revealed the small print of the scheme.
A relative of the sufferer mentioned the girl misplaced 10 million yen on the primary day and 6 million yen on the second day, for a complete lack of 16 million yen.
According to the household, the girl was in her 80s on the time, lived alone and had been identified with dementia.
The relative mentioned, “When I went to help at her house, she asked me, ‘What do you think about apartment investment?’ I never expected her to bring that up, so I told her, ‘Absolutely don’t do that.’”
The following week, the fraud got here to mild when the girl confirmed her bankbook, revealing that giant sums of cash had been transferred on-line to the suspects’ actual property firm.
The relative mentioned all the lady’s insurance coverage insurance policies and funding funds had been canceled and the give up proceeds deposited into her account, just for 10 million yen to be withdrawn the subsequent day via web banking.
According to the household, members of the group initially approached the girl by posing as door-to-door salespeople.
The relative mentioned the interplay started when one of many suspects mentioned, “It’s been a while. When I visited your home before, work wasn’t going well,” to which the girl responded with encouragement. Police later mentioned the change matched scripts present in a fraud handbook.
After gaining her belief, the suspects allegedly proceeded with property sale contracts and had the girl open an internet checking account that may very well be managed solely via a smartphone, in the end defrauding her of 16 million yen.
The relative urged warning, saying aged folks mustn’t permit strangers into their properties, ought to keep away from signing paperwork or utilizing private seals with out household current, and will focus on monetary issues brazenly inside households.
The Metropolitan Police Department believes the suspects checked victims’ monetary conditions earlier than finishing up the crimes and is continuous to research doable further offenses.
Source: FNN