Tokyo firefighter suspected of taking disaster-relief list of elderly to conduct fraud

The Yomiuri Shimbun

18:20 JST, December 6, 2022

A Tokyo firefighter arrested on suspicion of defrauding an elderly woman had a list of elderly people’s names and addresses in his home, the Tokyo Fire Department announced Tuesday.

The Nakano Ward Office had provided the list to the Nogata Fire Station for use in disaster relief. The arrested 23-year-old firefighter there had his residence searched by police, who found part of a copy of the list. The original list contains the names and addresses, but no phone numbers, of about 16,000 elderly people ages 70 and over residing in the ward.

Police suspect that the firefighter took the list without permission and are investigating whether the list was used for schemes related to fraud.

According to the Tokyo Fire Department, police arrested the firefighter on Nov. 22 on suspicion of swindling an elderly woman of ¥1.1 million in cash at her home in the neighboring Nerima Ward.