Kanagawa Police Secure Arrest Warrants for Manila-Based Fraud Ring; 8 Japanese Men Suspected of Fraud

The Yomiuri Shimbun

17:00 JST, January 30, 2024

YOKOHAMA — The Kanagawa prefectural police have secured arrest warrants for eight Japanese men based in Manila who are suspected of committing fraud, The Yomiuri Shimbun has learned. The eight men are in their 20s and 30s and are allegedly involved in a billing scam targeting elderly Japanese citizens.

Investigators have confirmed that local authorities in Manila have detained the suspects. After confirmation, the Kanagawa prefectural police sent about 20 officers to the Philippines to take custody of the detained men and bring them to Japan. The suspects are to be arrested as early as Tuesday.

The suspects allegedly committed fraud over the phone, according to investigators. Most of the men are believed to have entered the Philippines around 2020 and repeatedly made such calls to Japan while living in Manila. The Philippine authorities have already detained the men on suspicion of working illegally and are holding them in an immigration detention facility in the suburbs of Manila. The authorities seized several items, such as cell phones, computers and address books, from the apartment where the suspects are believed to have been based.

The prefectural police plan to arrest the eight men on suspicion of attempted fraud against a woman in Kumamoto Prefecture in February 2020. The police are investigating the possibility that the total amount of monetary damage caused by the group may amount to tens of millions of yen.