Tokyo police arrest possible exec of major Asian fraud ring

Among the three held by the Metropolitan Police Department were Cypriot national Hu Xiaowei, a 44-year-old business owner whose home address is unknown, and Li Yin Hong, a 31-year-old Chinese who is a company employee living in Tokyo's Setagaya Ward, the sources said.

The MPD will investigate Prince Group's activities in Japan.

The organization has been slapped with sanctions by the United States.

The trio conspired to submit a false notification of Hu's residency in Tokyo's Chuo Ward to the ward office in April, according to their arrest warrants.

Li visited the office for the submission.

Hu said in police questioning that he transferred his residency registration to Tokyo in order to obtain permanent residency in Japan.

But he added that he does not know the details because he left the procedures to an agent.

Hu has frequently visited Japan with a residency status of highly skilled professional.

He was arrested in the western Japan city of Osaka as his allegations were discovered after he visited the country last October.

According to a corporate registry, Hu founded a trading company with a capital of eight million yen in Tokyo's Adachi Ward in April 2023, and the company relocated its head office to Chiyoda Ward in the Japanese capital in April 2024.

Its capital was increased to 50 million yen in March this year.

U.S. authorities designated Prince Group as an entity subject to sanctions in October 2025 for its alleged involvement in malpractice including money laundering and charged its chairman, Chen Zhi.

The Cambodian government detained him in January and handed him over to the Chinese government.