Overview
- Sekine Yoshitsugu, 61, was arrested on fraud charges after allegedly posing as an active gangster and collecting mika-jime fees, including 300,000 yen taken in ten visits to a Sumida Ward restaurant between January 31 and November 1.
- Investigators believe he continued monthly collections totaling about 70,000 yen from two restaurants and a construction firm since October 2023, noting that demanding such fees is illegal even for active gang members.
- Tokyo police urged businesses to refuse improper demands, warning that December can bring pressure to buy seasonal items from criminal groups.
- Miyazaki police are investigating a December 4 robbery with injury at a Nobeoka gas station, describing the suspect as a man around 20 years old, about 170 cm tall, in a dark hoodie with black-rimmed glasses and a blue mask, carrying a knife-like object.
- Hokkaido reports included a bank stopping an advance-fee scam targeting an 82-year-old man in Nakashibetsu on November 25, a fatal December 4 vacuum-truck reversal in Obu, Aichi Prefecture, and a December 5 non-indictment by Sapporo prosecutors in a July sexual-assault case.