A former gangster dubbed the "Loan Shark King" said during his first trial session Wednesday he was putting off entering a plea on charges of lending money at exorbitant interest rates.
Susumu Kajiyama, 54, is suspected of running a loan-sharking ring that funneled some 10 billion yen annually to the Yamaguchi-gumi, the nation's largest underworld syndicate, through the Shizuoka-based gangster group Goryo-kai.
Kajiyama told the Tokyo District Court he would defer his plea until investigators complete their probe into the Yamaguchi-gumi's links with his alleged loan operation.