Overview

• The 39-year-old Kanazawa employee scored in the low 600s on the TOEIC in March and sought an 800-point-range certificate to qualify for an overseas assignment.
• She paid ¥160,000 through an online site and two China-linked suspects forged the high-score certificate in an Ota Ward apartment on April 7–8.
• During an April search of the suspects’ residence police found her unshipped fake certificate and about 500 other forged-document files on a computer.
• Two Chinese men in their 30s have been arrested three times between April and June on Immigration Control violations over forged residence cards and have been prosecuted.
• Investigators continue probing the broader network believed to have produced roughly 10,000 counterfeit credentials covering medical, real estate and other qualifications.