Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department

 Tokyo Metropolitan Police on the 24th arrested lawyer Yasuaki Takada (47), residing in Yokohama’s Seya Ward, on suspicion of fraud and violating the Organized Crime Punishment Act for concealing criminal proceeds. He is believed to be a member of a group that operated fake side‑job websites and defrauded about 10,000 people nationwide, stealing a total of 5.3 billion yen since January 2023.

Police also re-arrested a 50‑year‑old man from Ichikawa, Chiba—considered a senior member of the group—on the same charges.

According to investigators, the two conspired between September and December 2023 to withdraw about 580,000 yen from a frozen bank account belonging to a music school operator. They allegedly submitted falsified documents to a credit union in Kanagawa Prefecture, claiming the funds were lesson fees, and closed the account to obtain the remaining balance.

The documents were prepared by the male suspect, while Takada submitted them along with a forged power of attorney as the company’s supposed representative.

Takada handled customer complaints for the fraudulent website, sometimes issuing partial refunds while persuading victims not to report the matter to police. Authorities believe he received around 1 million yen per month in compensation from the group.

The group lured victims—mainly women registered on the site—by advertising that “you can earn money by giving advice to men,” then charged them various usage fees. Around 90 members of the group have already been arrested. The frozen account was used to collect these fees and was locked by the credit union in September 2023.

Takada became a registered attorney in 2011 and runs a law office in Tokyo’s Chiyoda Ward. In March last year, he received a six‑month suspension from the Tokyo Bar Association for posting exaggerated advertisements related to recovering funds from romance scams.