A former sumo wrestler was arrested Thursday in Tokyo on suspicion of extorting about ¥3.5 million from ozeki Kotomitsuki in connection with mob-linked illegal gambling on pro baseball games, investigative sources said.
The Metropolitan Police Department took Mitsutomo Furuichi, 38, into custody and began questioning him.
Furuichi, whose wrestler name was Wakaryusei, is an elder brother of a sumo wrestler on the active whose name is being withheld.
An agent for Furuichi had told the police that Furuichi would make himself available soon, so the police were prepared to serve him an arrest warrant they obtained Tuesday after he was in custody, investigative sources said earlier.
According to police, Furuichi admitted Thursday he received ¥3.5 million from Kotomitsuki but denied blackmailing him, claiming he received the money only on behalf of another person who was involved in the baseball gambling.
Kotomitsuki told people close to him around March that he was being blackmailed over his gambling problem, indicating Furuichi had links with organized crime, according to sources at the Japan Sumo Association.
After being threatened with public exposure over his involvement in gambling around December, the ozeki allegedly paid Furuichi about ¥3.5 million in hush money, only to see the former wrestler subsequently demand he pay more than ¥100 million in cash.
Kotomitsuki feared that he or his family members could be harmed over the situation, the sumo association sources said.
According to the sources, Kotomitsuki, after being blackmailed, asked stablemasters Otake, Sanoyama and Tokitsukaze to give him advice.
When Kotomitsuki and Furuichi met in Osaka for negotiations, Otake and another man who is believed to be a yakuza also attended, the sources said.