Yamagata police on Monday arrested a 21-year-old man for allegedly masterminding a fraud in which he ordered a 13-year-old male student to swindle ¥7 million from a woman in her 70s in the city of Tendo, Yamagata Prefecture.
Akinori Horie, a construction worker in Koshigaya, Saitama Prefecture, has exercised his right to remain silent, according to police.
Horie is suspected of conspiring with others to swindle money from the elderly victim.
Pretending to be a police officer, one of the conspirators called up the woman and asked her to withdraw money from the bank, saying a gangster was after her bank account, investigators said.
Horie then instructed the 13-year-old junior high school student in Tokyo to meet her and receive ¥7 million in a parking lot in the city of Tendo, the investigators said.
A 22-year-old man has also been arrested in connection with the case. He is suspected of receiving the cash from the male student.