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Friday, October 17, 2025, 16:08 GMT+7

Tokyo police arrest phone scam group leader

TOKYO -- Tokyo police have served two people with additional arrest warrants, including a person believed to be the leader of a group accused of committing phone scam cases, people familiar with the investigation told Jiji Press on Friday.

Tokyo police arrest phone scam group leader- Ảnh 1.

Suspect Qian Ling in Tokyo, Japan, October 16, 2025. Photo: Jiji Press

The Metropolitan Police Department suspects that the group was behind at least some 500 phone scam cases committed in half a year through January, causing about five billion yen in damage.

One of the two suspects, who is believed to be the group's leader, is Qian Ling, a 38-year-old Chinese national, who allegedly has a link with a Chinese-affiliated crime organization.

The police believe that the Chinese organization and Sumiyoshi-kai, a Japanese gang group, cooperated with the Qian-led group in the phone scams.

The other suspect is Shohei Miyadai, a 31-year-old Japanese national who allegedly oversaw scam perpetrators.

Qian and others set up a base in Cambodia using funds collected from investors, the people familiar with the investigation said.

The group started activities there around 2023, apparently using money taken through the scams to make payments to some 30 perpetrators and investors, they said.

Tokyo police arrest phone scam group leader- Ảnh 3.

Suspect Lu Lu in Tokyo, Japan, October 16, 2025. Photo: Jiji Press

The police also arrested Lu Lu, a 36-year-old Chinese national suspected of laundering money collected through the scams on behalf of the Qian group.

Lu allegedly ordered group members to pay deposits to real estate companies on behalf of Chinese customers who wanted to buy properties in Japan by using money collected through the scams.

Then, the suspect is alleged to have the deposits returned in Chinese yuan.

Qian and Miyadai are suspected of swindling two people out of 2.9 million yen in cash and one million yen in crypto assets, respectively, by making fraudulent phone calls that said they were targets of police investigations, between September and December 2023.

Lu allegedly sent 10 million yen out of 32 million yen in cash collected through a scam to a real estate firm in October-November 2023.

Tokyo police arrest phone scam group leader- Ảnh 4.

https://jen.jiji.com

 

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