Police arrested two members of a "sokaiya" corporate extortionist group Monday on suspicion of receiving about 23 million yen over 2 1/2 years from Japan Airlines Co. in violation of the Commercial Code.
The Metropolitan Police Department said three JAL officials in charge of general shareholders' meetings have confessed to providing favors to sokaiya.
The sokaiya were identified as Hitoshi Ogasawara, 51, a senior member of the Morimoto Corporate Research Group, and Mamoru Arai, 53, president of the Taihei lease company, which is based in Meguro Ward. Police suspect JAL executives paid sokaiya some 80 million yen over several years under the pretense of leasing decorative plants.