Crimes by rightist groups went up 40 percent during the first eight months of this year from the same period last year, the National Police Agency said Thursday.

Police across the country acted against 171 criminal cases, including rightists' efforts to obstruct auctions aimed at retrieving failed loans, it said. The NPA said rightist groups have been increasingly involved in crimes related to the underworld and "sokaiya" corporate extortionists amid the widespread payoff scandals involving brokerages and other major businesses.

If the number of crimes by rightists continues growing at this pace, it will surpass 250 cases annually for the first time in five years, the NPA said. The NPA has directed prefectural police across the country to intensify efforts to crack down on illegal activities by these groups.

According to the NPA, the number of rightists' crimes targeted for money was 39 in 1992, but the figure grew to 214 in 1994, an apparent sign that rightist groups are desperate for funds following the bursting of the economic bubble. After 1994, the annual figures stayed above 200 cases, it said.

Among cases this year, extortion and fraud topped the list at 99, followed by violent acts at 15 and stimulant drug law violations at eight, the NPA said. Disturbances at public auctions and Political Funds Control Law violations accounted for five cases each.

In Nara Prefecture, three senior rightist group members were arrested in July for disturbing a land auction by haranguing the event with their loudspeaker truck and four-wheel-drive vehicles. They attempted to purchase the property with a low bid price by making their presence prominent in the neighborhood so that others would not want to buy the land, police said.

"We are determined to crack down on any crimes by rightist groups, which are desperate to secure new funding sources and are tightening their ties with gangs and sokaiya," an NPA official said.