4 Arrested in Japan over Counterfeit Silver Coins

Tokyo, Jan. 8 (Jiji Press)–Tokyo police have arrested four suspects, including a Chinese national, for allegedly exchanging counterfeit commemorative 10,000-yen silver coins at financial institutions in at least seven of Japan’s 47 prefectures. The Metropolitan Police Department did not disclose whether the suspects, arrested on Wednesday, have admitted to the allegations. Arrested are Xue Zhiwei, a 36-year-old Chinese national and company executive who lives in Tokyo’s Adachi Ward, Kenji Yamaguchi, 48, a construction worker, Takahiro Ura, 57, also a construction worker, and Yoshiomi Sera, 59, whose occupation is unknown. The suspects allegedly exchanged 79 counterfeit coins at three branches of two shinkin banks between mid-May and early June last year, according to the MPD. They used false names on documents when applying for money exchange. The original 10,000-yen coins, made of silver, were issued to commemorate the 60th anniversary of the reign of Emperor Hirohito, posthumously known as Emperor Showa. Since April 2025, at least 630 such coins are believed to have been exchanged at shinkin banks as well as financial institutions affiliated with agricultural cooperatives in Saitama, Ibaraki and five other prefectures. The MPD believes that a group to which the four suspects belong was involved and will investigate in detail how they obtained the coins in question. Separately on Wednesday, the prefectural police department of Fukuoka, southwestern Japan, served a fresh arrest warrant for Leng Dayu, a 28-year-old Chinese national and unemployed resident in Tokyo’s Adachi Ward, on suspicion of exchanging 32 of the counterfeit silver coins at a financial institution in Fukuoka. He was arrested in December last year on suspicion of exchanging 23 other fake coins. The Finance Ministry announced last month that counterfeit commemorative silver coins had been found, urging caution. END [Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]