Police have arrested four individuals for allegedly transferring a driver account on Demaecan, a food delivery service website, to a foreigner who is not qualified to work in Japan.

The four are Kotaro Yamazaki, a 50-year-old executive of a consulting firm; Takuma Shimada, a 32-year-old bodywork therapist; Kimihiro Sano, 35; and Mamatkodirov Iskandarbek Rejabboy Ugli, a 24-year-old Uzbek national.

The suspects were arrested for allegedly creating a Demaecan driver account under the name of Shimada on Oct. 21, 2023, then transferring it to Mamatkodirov and obtaining money illegally. They have admitted to the charges.

Tokyo's Metropolitan Police Department suspects Demaecan driver accounts Japanese nationals created per the instruction of Yamazaki, who is believed to be the ringleader, were allocated to about 150 foreigners ineligible to work in the country.

According to the police, Sano recruited Shimada on social media and had him create a Demaecan driver account. Mamatkodirov, who was recruited by another Uzbek national, used the account to pose as Shimada and engaged in delivery tasks assigned by food delivery service provider Demae-can.

Shimada received ¥20,000 ($137) from the delivery salaries as a name-lending fee per month, sending ¥10,000 of it to Sano and then giving the rest to Mamatkodirov.

Part of the salaries paid through the bogus accounts had also been given to Yamazaki via Sano. Yamazaki is believed to have received about ¥1.5 million per month as a reward by using similar schemes since 2022.

Demae-can prohibits the transfer of delivery driver accounts to third parties and does not allow foreigners who do not have permanent or settlement status to register for such accounts.

The fraudulent delivery driver account transfer was revealed following an investigation into a hit-and-run accident caused by Mamatkodirov while he was riding a moped with pedals during a delivery in September 2023.