Two suspects in recruitment for fraud schemes rearrested in Japan
Police in Japan’s Hiroshima Prefecture have rearrested construction company president Riho Maehara and former company executive director Yuka Matsumoto. According to The Japan Times, they are suspected of directing a man who had been denied a job to an anonymous criminal group that allegedly planned to involve him in fraud abroad.
Suspected attempt to send a person abroad
Maehara, 32, and Matsumoto, 30, who live in Hiroshima’s Asaminami district, are suspected of attempted kidnapping for transfer abroad and violating Japan’s Employment Security Act. Hiroshima Prefectural Police said they are suspected of directing a person to harmful work. Both deny the allegations.
According to investigators, from late March to mid-April, the women approached a 35-year-old Hiroshima Prefecture resident after refusing to employ him at their construction company. They allegedly offered him a highly paid overseas telemarketing job, directed him to a criminal group and attempted to send him to Southeast Asia.
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Recruitment through video calls
Police suspect that Maehara and Matsumoto acted as recruiters for tokuryū, a flexible anonymous criminal network whose members often communicate via encrypted apps and change their composition. Investigators believe group representatives interviewed referred candidates through video calls, instructed them to use secure messaging apps, and then recruited them as operators for specialized fraud schemes.
On August 17, Maehara and Matsumoto were already arrested on suspicion of kidnapping another person and sending that person to Taiwan under a similar scheme. Investigators are determining the likely roles of both women and the structure of the criminal group.
