Japan Police Ink Pact with Banks to Swiftly Track Scam Proceeds

Tokyo, May 28 (Jiji Press)–Japan’s National Police Agency on Thursday concluded an agreement with nine major banks that will allow police to swiftly track the flow of funds from accounts used to receive scam proceeds, helping to expedite investigations and facilitate the recovery of stolen funds. The agreement, signed with Mizuho Bank, MUFG Bank, Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corp., Resona Bank, Seven Bank, Rakuten Bank, Aeon Bank, SBI Shinsei Bank and Japan Post Bank, will enter into effect on Monday. It will allow investigators to view the movement of funds on the same day they request the information at the earliest, whereas it previously took several days or even weeks. According to the NPA, scam proceeds are laundered by being transferred through multiple bank accounts before ultimately being consolidated in a corporate account capable of handling large transactions. The money is then sent overseas or used to purchase crypto assets in many cases. Previously, prefectural police departments applied by mail to financial institutions to request access to account information. It took several days for financial institutions to respond, and police had to repeat the process when new movements of funds were found, causing investigators to frequently fail to recover scam proceeds. Under the agreement, information of scam incidents identified by prefectural police will be consolidated by the NPA, which will seek information from financial institutions online. Financial institutions will be required to disclose information about remittance beneficiaries as promptly as possible. By speeding up the cycle of tracking the movement of funds and identifying the accounts used, police hope to freeze accounts holding scam proceeds before the money is transferred. The NPA will call on financial institutions beyond the initial nine banks to take part in the initiative, and also consider creating a fund-tracking scheme with crypto exchange platforms. The amount of money stolen in special fraud cases in Japan this year totaled about 94 billion yen as of the end of March, putting the figure on track to exceed the record full-year high logged last year. Many of the cases are investment scams or cases involving scammers posing as police officers. “The opportunity to secure scam proceeds and apprehend those involved will grow,” an NPA official said. “By freezing accounts one by one through the process, we can also reduce the number of accounts that can be misused.” END [Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]