Six teenage boys were arrested Thursday on suspicion of extorting at least 500,000 yen from a 14-year-old junior high school student in Adachi Ward, Tokyo, the Metropolitan Police Department said.
According to police, the victim withdrew the money from a bank account into which his father's severance pay had been remitted. Millions of yen have been withdrawn from the account, and police said the youths may have extorted more money from the boy.
The suspects, whose names were not released because they are minors, range in age from 14 to 17, police said. They include three youths who attend the same junior high as the victim, as well as three high school students who also knew him.
The three high school students approached the 14-year-old on Oct. 16, saying they would "protect" him in return for money, extorting some 450,000 yen in the process, police said, alleging the other three hit the boy up for 38,000 yen each Oct. 31.
The victim took his father's bank card without permission, police said. The suspects were quoted as saying they used the money to hang out and play.