Japanese Man Arrested over Cambodia-Based Fraud Ring

Tokyo, June 16 (Jiji Press)–Japanese police Tuesday arrested a 38-year-old Japanese man on suspicion of leading a special fraud group based in Cambodia while living in Thailand. The suspect, Yusuke Sasaki, was arrested by the prefectural police of Aichi, central Japan, after being deported from Thailand the same day, where he had been detained by local police. Sasaki is believed to have been a leader of a fraud group that had many Japanese members who were detained in May last year. It was one of several fraud groups based in the northwestern Cambodian town of Poipet. The prefectural police estimated financial losses from frauds by the group allegedly led by Sasaki at some 1.4 billion yen. Sasaki is suspected of conspiring with other Japanese perpetrators to make phone calls from Cambodia to a female resident in her 30s in Tsukuba, Ibaraki Prefecture, eastern Japan, in February last year and defrauding her of a total of 31.4 million yen in cash. The victim was falsely told that her bank account had been used for money laundering and that the money in the account had to be investigated. The prefectural police also said Sasaki provided funds to finance the fraud group. Sasaki’s involvement surfaced from statements provided by 29 arrested Japanese nationals and a Chinese couple believed to have been giving instructions, according to the prefectural police. According to Thai police, Sasaki is believed to have given instructions for the frauds from the Thai capital of Bangkok, where he lived with his family. To evade police investigation, he traveled between Thailand, Malaysia, China and Vietnam. His entry into Cambodia has not been confirmed. END [Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]