The Tokyo District Court on Wednesday acquitted a former employee of the Hong Kong unit of Swiss banking giant Credit Suisse of laundering some 9.4 billion yen on behalf of a mobster who ran a loan-shark network affiliated with Yamaguchi-gumi.
Presiding Judge Yoshinobu Iida said there was "reasonable doubt" that Atsushi Doden, 43, knew the money entrusted to him was profits from criminal activities and that the testimony of another gangster, whose name was not provided, about a conspiracy with Doden was not trustworthy.
The acquittal of the man prosecutors had said gave the instructions on managing the money flow might force investigators to review how they probe money-laundering cases.