Overview
- Tokyo police re-arrested three suspects, including 52-year-old Korean national Han Gangcheol, on Investment Law violations after determining the group lent about ¥10 million to at least a dozen women and collected about ¥40 million in interest and fees.
- Aichi Prefectural Police and a joint unit re-arrested seven alleged members of a large account-broker group and detained an 18-year-old high school student; alleged ringleader Yusuke Nishikawa was among those held on charges tied to providing account-linked devices to fraud groups.
- Recent special-fraud cases show elderly victims being directed to make repeated ATM withdrawals and transfers, with losses reaching up to ¥19.12 million in one case and banks’ monitoring catching some anomalies but not preventing all harm.
- Wakayama police said a man who lost ¥13.18 million consulted ChatGPT about suspicious messages, which flagged likely fraud and led him to report the case.
- Tokyo authorities arrested a massage parlor manager on suspicion of employing a 12-year-old Thai girl in violation of labor laws, and experts say the case reflects persistent, often hidden human trafficking dynamics.