6 arrested in Saitama Pref. over laundering 700 mil. yen

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Posted: Mon Sep 03, 2007 8:08 am

Maybe not the right forum so please don't flame me. But this represents some hard work on the part of several people (including yours truly) and darn if it just doesn't make my day.

The Yomiuri Shimbun

Police on Sunday arrested five Japanese and a Nigerian on suspicion of illegally opening bank accounts that are suspected to have been used by organized crime syndicates in Canada and the United States to launder at least 700 million yen that was deposited with financial institutions in Saitama Prefecture.

The Saitama prefectural police intends to establish a case against the six on suspicion of violating the Anti-organized Crime Law.

It is unusual to find money launderers using Japan as a conduit for their activities.

With billions of yen believed to have been laundered in the prefecture, police and the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation will join forces to shed light on the crime.

Five of those arrested are Japanese, including a driver, 31, of Tokorozawa, Saitama Prefecture, and the other is a 46-year-old Nigerian from Warabi, Saitama Prefecture, who runs a restaurant.

Using false names, the group allegedly opened accounts at branches of a city bank and credit unions in Tokorozawa and Hanno, Saitama Prefecture, and obtained passbooks.

According to police, since summer 2005, the five Japanese have opened more than 30 accounts, to which sums of money from the United States and Canada amounting to between 1 million yen and 10 million yen were deposited on more than 100 occasions every month.

They gave the Nigerian a total of about 700 million yen and received about 300,000 yen each as payment every month, according to police.

Through a Nigerian friend in Tokyo, the Nigerian suspect sent money from other banks to the United States, Canada and China, police said.

After jointly investigating with the FBI the origin of the money flowing through the accounts to other countries, police confirmed that about 23 million yen--profits from selling fake stocks and bonds in the United States--had been channeled back to the United States.

About 700 million yen, excluding payments to the five Japanese and the Nigerian, is believed to have been channeled to foreign countries.

Police suspect that most of the money was swindled or stolen in Canada and the United States.

As police believe the suspects have opened other accounts for money laundering, they are investigating the flow of money channeled by the suspects.
(Sep. 3, 2007)

http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/dy/national/20070903TDY01001.htm

Posted: Mon Sep 03, 2007 8:30 am

If I've put the decimal point in the right place
700 million Yen is just over $6 million
or about �3.1 million pounds.
4.4 million Euros.

And that is just what the authorities know about, well done to all involved

I think its worth a

Posted: Mon Sep 03, 2007 9:18 am

yes slowfreddie it sounds like the decimal is in the right place. But we think there's at least one other Nigerian involved and some other foreigners too, maybe. But it's a start.

Posted: Mon Sep 03, 2007 12:41 pm

Excellent News!

Posted: Mon Sep 03, 2007 1:06 pm

Well done to all concerned, and claim that shield in your signature Miyu!

Posted: Mon Sep 03, 2007 1:22 pm

@Zen, I would if I knew how to do that.

And more from Asahi Shinbun news:

5 Japanese, Nigerian arrested in suspected money-laundering ring

09/03/2007
THE ASAHI SHIMBUN

SAITAMA--Police have arrested six people, including a Nigerian suspected of being the ringleader of a money-laundering scheme here involving hundreds of millions of yen swindled in the United States, sources said.

Felix Steve Asabor, 40, Keiichi Isono, 32, and four other Japanese were arrested Sunday over a bank account that was opened in Tokorozawa, Saitama Prefecture, for suspected money-laundering purposes, according to police.

The suspects also gained a bank card and bank book for the account.

According to investigators at international investigation division of the Saitama prefectural police, millions of yen were deposited in the account from the United States.

Asabor, from Nigeria, who lives in Warabi in the prefecture, instructed the others to make withdrawals at convenience stores and hand the cash to the Nigerian.

Police said they are studying the transfers involving the bank account to uncover the entire scheme.

They already suspect that dozens of similar accounts had been set up, each containing hundreds of thousands of yen to tens of million yen in deposits.

With the cooperation of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Saitama police confirmed that the amount of money defrauded in the United States is estimated to be hundreds of millions of yen (millions of dollars).

Bank records of the accounts show that part of the money from the United States ended up in the group's bank accounts in Japan.

Saitama police had earlier sent investigators to the United States as part of the investigation.

Police also plan to investigate the group over violations of the law against organized crime.

(IHT/Asahi: September 3,2007)

http://www.asahi.com/english/Herald-...709030149.html

Posted: Mon Sep 03, 2007 1:49 pm

Awesome!

Posted: Mon Sep 03, 2007 1:52 pm

^^@miyu: just add

Code:

:badge:

in your siggy, or wait for a kind mod (if any) to do it for you.

btw, Congrats on the catch!

Posted: Mon Sep 03, 2007 4:10 pm

Well done, Miyu Very Happy

Baiting Guru Joined: 04 Dec 2005 Posts: 3551

Awesome news! Very Happy

Posted: Mon Sep 03, 2007 10:56 pm

I hope they enjoy prison, and sharing the showers. Don't drop the soap "assabore". Excellent catch! Here's to many years of torture, lock down, and garbage food.

Posted: Mon Sep 03, 2007 11:21 pm

Great work, Miyu! Congratulations!

Exclamation

Posted: Tue Sep 04, 2007 1:20 am

Way to go Miyu.

Posted: Tue Sep 04, 2007 1:57 am

That's pretty good, nay, awesome going....Now, if you got a percentage of that as a reward...
However, given the amount of money we're talking about, I certainly wouldn't be telling everyone I met about this. Best kept under your hat, sir/madam!

Posted: Tue Sep 04, 2007 4:14 am

Yes, Emit, I shall.

This is still hitting the NHK radio news, just heard it again at 13:00. Also some updated information from Kyodo news agency. This is turning into possibly a big story in Japan. I'm still interested to know who the other 3 Japanese are.

CORRECTED: LEAD: Nigerian, 5 Japanese arrested for money laundering

(Kyodo) _ A Nigerian man living in Saitama Prefecture and five Japanese cohorts have been arrested for their alleged involvement in a money laundering scheme on behalf of U.S. crime syndicates, police said Monday.

Asabor Felix Steve, 40, is suspected of having requested Keiichi Isono, 32, and other suspects to open accounts at financial institutions in Tokorozawa, Saitama, and other places in order to launder money which the syndicates obtained through fraudulent means, according to the investigation.

The suspects include Asabor's wife Rieko, 42, the police said.

The police have confirmed the existence of at least 40 accounts, in which a total of 700 million yen realized from the criminal activities is believed to have been remitted from overseas, they said.

Isono and others withdrew cash from the accounts and handed it over to Asabor as compensation, which Asabor subsequently transferred, via another Nigerian man, to the United States, China and Canada on behalf of the syndicates, the police said.

While Asabor has denied the allegations, the five other suspects have admitted to them, the police added.

While the U.S. syndicates are suspected of having obtained the money by coming up with underhand investment schemes, the Japanese police are now investigating further into the particulars of the shady transactions, they added.

http://asia.news.yahoo.com/070903/kyodo/d8rdn8eo1.html

Quote:

the five other suspects have admitted to them

Pretty much how it works here. I wondered if Asabor would stonewall or start crying like a baby. I figured the Japanese would all start singing like canaries. They usually do when confronted with overwhelming evidence of wrongdoing. It makes criminal prosecution much easier, although I don't teach criminal law or deal with it very much.

And here he is Felix Steve Asabor:

and you can watch the video news (sorry it's Japanese) from NHK here:
http://www3.nhk.or.jp/news/2007/09/04/d20070904000071.html

** ACCOUNT CLOSED ** Joined: 15 Apr 2007 Posts: 766

--J.D.

Posted: Sat Dec 29, 2007 6:48 am

Hello.

sorry mods, don't flame me for bring up an old thread. However, there was a small ddos problem before the rest of the story got posted so here it is. also, you might want to merge this thread http://forum.419eater.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=124326 in with this because it's all the same story.

OK. to begin with, there were 6 arrested. They were never completely named in the English language press but they were name in the Japanese press so here they are. Oops well, I'll have to look for them.

About 10 days later, 4 more were arrested, including Christopher Ariri Noguchi, 39, who obtained Japanese citizenship after leaving Nigeria and Manabu Fukuda, 38, an executive of a group affiliated with the Sumiyoshi-kai (yakuza) and the two other men (probably yakuza wannabees).

In addition, during the first arrests, Ariri, who appears to have run a travel agency, helped a third Nigerian man get on a plane, about Sept 6, headed for Singapore. He is now on the Interpol wanted list. That's generally referred to as "aiding and abetting". They haven't hung that on Ariri yet.

Then, about the first of October, 3 more were arrested Chiba prefecture for money laundering. All 3 are Japanese and include Issei Iwasaki (age 22), an un-named office worker (male, age eighteen) and an unemployed male (age 19). The last 2 are not named because they are under legal age in Japan (which is 20).

So the total score is 2 Nigerians and 11 Japanese arrested for money laundering (to date), and another Nigerian on an international wanted list.

Now the story which veruca41 posted. The police have now decided to charge 2 of the first suspects arrested, Asabor and Keiichi Isono under the organized Crime Law.

speculation: It usually happens that police will charge a suspect with a lesser offense and then try to build up a case to hang a longer sentence on them which is probably what they are doing here. They may also be charged with money laundering.

Back to fact: In December last year, the Parliament here (the Diet) passed some amendments to the Anti Money Laundering Law to increase the penalties for crimes thereunder.

More sepculation: These 2 might be the first test case under those amendments.

Trophy Videos · Posted: Sat Dec 29, 2007 2:55 pm

Nice going, miyu! Very Happy

I think I missed this one in Sept. You deserve 13 badges for those bad guys!! I never mind a bump to hear more bad news for bad guys. I don't speak for the mods, however.

Posted: Sat Dec 29, 2007 3:00 pm

Miyu:

Good job!

Out of curiosity, what kind of jail time are they looking at for something like this in Japan?

Here in the US we always say things like not to drop the soap as you might get ahhhh..... "friendly" with another inmate, but that is really a rare thing in federal prison where these kinds would go in the US. What would the prison conditions be like for them?

I work in the legal arena here in the US so I am curious as to how things work in other legal systems.

Posted: Fri Jan 11, 2008 8:04 am

miyu wrote:

the total score is 2 Nigerians and 11 Japanese arrested for money laundering (to date), and another Nigerian on an international wanted list.

Once again, congratulations to all concerned. And let's remember those 11 Japanese whenever there are accusations of racism against the anti-419 movement.

Posted: Sat Jan 12, 2008 3:05 am

AmenZen. These 11 Japanese sold themselves to scammers for a little cash, excep t for the yakuza.

The Man said

Quote:

Out of curiosity, what kind of jail time are they looking at for something like this in Japan?

I've been talking to some of my collegaues and there really aren't sentencing guidelines such as in the US. The new charges seem to indicate the police want to put them away for an even longer time. If I get time to go read through the criminal code sometime maybe I can figure it out. Offhand I would guess a minimum of 10 years, but it's still up in the air. The police may keep hanging bigger (in terms of sentencing) things around their necks in an effort to get maybe 25 years or something like that.

Did I mention the conviction rate here is like 99%?

Posted: Sat Jan 12, 2008 3:51 am

You were involved in that one? Well done!!! I saw that in the news here and never thought an eater was involved. I don't know anyone else baiting here in Japan (I'm sure there are others). Mind you, I could hardly believe the police here would get off their backsides and do something about it (the average Japanese police force investigative powers make Clouseau look like Sherlock Holmes)

Unfortunately Japanese people tend to be very trusting - my wife's ex-boss went once to Hawai'i and once to Nigeria on 419 trips. He came back from Nigeria with the clothes he stood up in and nothing else (he was lucky).

Posted: Sat Jan 12, 2008 12:31 pm

Miyu:

That is awesome! Even 10 years would be great. If you have a good prosecutor the conviction rate should be 99% Smile

Congrats again for your fine work!

Posted: Tue Jan 22, 2008 7:28 am

Some nice videos of life in Japanese prisons and some statistics. The videos are in Japanese but you don't have to speak the language to tell it can't be fun.

http://www.japanprobe.com/?p=2245

Posted: Fri Jan 25, 2008 11:49 am

The Japan bar association has been on this problem for years and we don't seem to make much progress. A few of our police tend to be a little agressive. Gee, I hope those money launderers didn't have any problems....NOT! Very Happy

01/25/2008

BY ICHIRO NODA, THE ASAHI SHIMBUN

The National Police Agency, admitting that harsh tactics and excessive reliance on confessions led to false charges in two high-profile cases, released a set of interrogation guidelines Thursday intended to prevent a recurrence.

But victims in the two cases--a man falsely convicted of rape in Toyama Prefecture and individuals wrongly charged with election law violations in Kagoshima Prefecture--questioned the effectiveness of the new guidelines.

That is because other police officers will be in charge of watching over the interrogation procedures of their colleagues, they said.

The NPA did admit that long hours of oppressive interrogations and an excessive dependence on "confessions" were factors in the mistaken charges.

The guidelines will require setting up one-way mirrors in each of the nation's more than 10,000 police interrogation rooms so that the questioning process can be viewed.

Lengthy and late-night questioning will be banned in principle, along with the use of violence and of intimidating acts and words.

Questioning between 10 p.m. and 5 a.m. and those lasting more than 8 hours a day will require prior approval by top officials.

A section specializing in supervising interrogations will be set up in each prefectural police department to ensure the guidelines are observed.

If regular or surprise inspections uncover inappropriate conduct, the officers in charge of the interrogation will be replaced and subject to guidance or disciplinary measures.

The oversight system for police interrogation, the first of its kind, will be in place nationwide by spring 2009, according to NPA officials.

To create the guidelines, the NPA compiled a report on reviews by the Toyama and Kagoshima prefectural police into the two false accusation cases.

Victims, who were not interviewed, said they were hoping for the "truth" about why they were falsely charged, rather than new guidelines and police pledges to restore trust.

"They just want to show the public that police are seriously tackling the issue," said Hiroshi Yanagihara, 40, who served two years and a month in prison for false rape and attempted rape convictions.

"Is there any significance in police supervision by police?"

Yanagihara was arrested in April 2002 and was convicted in November that year.

He had initially denied the allegations but later "confessed" during an interrogation that he described as "so oppressive."

He was released on parole in January 2005.

Two years later, another man accused of sexual assaults confessed to committing the two crimes that Yanagihara had been falsely convicted of.

Yanagihara was acquitted in a retrial in October. No police officers have been disciplined.

The NPA report said the Toyama prefectural police failed to fully investigate on the basis of evidence, such as footprints, knife types and phone logs.

The agency also said police failed to verify whether Yanagihara's confessions were true. As a result, they failed to confirm his alibi, although phone records showed he was talking with his brother at the time of the crime.

In the Kagoshima case, the NPA report said interrogations were too long and oppressive, and that officers behaved improperly.

Thirteen people were indicted on vote-buying charges after the April 2003 prefectural assembly election. As they denied the allegations, they were detained for 88 to 395 days.

The NPA admitted some of the interrogation sessions went on for 13 hours and 40 minutes (including breaks) a day. Some suspects were questioned over 10 straight days.

Efforts to verify the confessions were insufficient, as well as top officials' supervision, it said.

All of the suspects pleaded innocent at their trial and were acquitted in February 2007. Some officers were disciplined, including one who forced suspects to stomp on relatives' names written on paper.

"I was pressed to confess day by day," said assembly member Shinichi Nakayama, 62, who was suspected as a leader in vote-buying.

He welcomed the guidelines, but said police supervision by police "would be impossible." (IHT/Asahi: January 25,2008)

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