The Nagoya District Court on Monday imposed a nine-year prison term and an ¥8 million ($51,700) fine on a 25-year-old woman — who went by the moniker “Sugar Baby Riri” — for swindling three men out of ¥156 million through a romance scam and for selling a manual on how to commit similar acts of fraud.
The defendant, whose real name is Mai Watanabe, spent the money she obtained from the three men on a host whom she fell in love with, with the aim of making him No. 1 in terms of sales at the club where he works in Tokyo’s Kabukicho entertainment district, the court found.
Presiding Judge Yoichi Omura condemned the defendant, saying that “her motive to contribute to the sales of a host is truly selfish, and there is no room for leniency.”