FUKUOKA (TR) — Police have arrested 5 Japanese nationals transferred from the Philippines over their alleged involvement in an enormous fraud ring focusing on the aged, stories the Asahi Shimbun (Apr. 7).
The 5 suspects are believed to be members of the Philippines-based crime syndicate JP Dragon. Among them was Miyako Iwamoto, the 34-year-old chief of the syndicate. They arrived at Narita International Airport on April 7 earlier than being transferred to Fukuoka Prefecture for questioning.
They face expenses of fraud and theft. The suspects have been recognized as Iwamoto, Ayumu Osawa, 33, Kunichika Harada, 49, Nobuyuki Arima, 45, and 34-year-old Yuya Yano.
According to the Fukuoka police, the group conspired with different people in 2022 to defraud an 88-year-old girl in Gifu City.
Impersonating law enforcement officials, they allegedly telephoned the sufferer and informed her, “There are counterfeit bills among your cash, and we need to examine them for fingerprints.”
The group subsequently swindled the lady out of 1.4 million yen in money and stole her ATM playing cards, which have been then used to withdraw further funds.
Investigators imagine the 5 suspects operated primarily as kakeko (callers) inserting misleading calls from the Philippines, in addition to shishiyaku (instructors) who directed accomplices on the bottom in Japan to gather the money.
Philippine immigration authorities initially detained the suspects in October 2025. Following their deportation, Japanese police executed the arrest warrants mid-flight as their plane entered Japanese airspace.
Since 2019, the JP Dragon syndicate is believed to have orchestrated a sprawling fraud community focusing on the aged throughout Japan. Police estimate the group has duped roughly 250 victims throughout 20 prefectures, accumulating illicit income amounting to roughly 900 million yen.
Police are persevering with to probe the inside workings of the felony group in an effort to uncover the complete scope of their operations.
Iwamoto
The suspects carried out tokushu sagi (specialised fraud) from a base in in Quezon Province, a couple of three-hour drive south of central Manila.
As beforehand reported, Iwamoto started working as an ukeko — or receiver, which means an individual charged with amassing cash from victims — for a fraud ring in Japan. She later obtained a proposal to work as a kakeko from the Philippines.
Despite the truth that she was extremely expert in serving as an ukeko (the brazen lies she may inform when went to gather cash from victims’ houses have been deemed among the many finest within the enterprise) Iwamoto determined to journey alone to the Philippines to alter her function.
Upon arrival, she was instantly assigned to a gaggle affiliated with the Japanese felony group JP Dragon. Until his arrest in June, Ryuji Yoshioka, 55, was the boss of JP Dragon, which is comprised of a number of teams.
As quickly as she started her job, Iwamoto put her abilities on full show. She simply elicited data from even probably the most suspicious victims, together with these whose grip on their money card PIN numbers would have triggered regular fraudsters to surrender.
“There are manuals for callers, but the success of callers depends on the individual’s skill. [Iwamoto] not only possessed amazing skills but she was also fast and unflinching. And she could lie with confidence. She was a genius,” a JP Dragon insider beforehand informed Shukan Gendai.
Iwamoto rapidly grew to become the group’s high earner and made a reputation for herself all through the group.