Saitama police arrested a 26-year-old woman Tuesday on burglary resulting in injury charges after allegedly acting as the financial coordinator for a yami baito (shady part-time job) operation that occurred in October.

The suspect, Keiko Muto from the city of Kyoto’s Kamigyo Ward, is accused of cooperating with the scheme’s mastermind and receiving stolen funds and transferring payments to accomplices in a violent burglary that occurred on Oct. 1 in the city of Tokorozawa, Saitama Prefecture.

A joint task force — comprising the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department and others in Chiba, Kanagawa and Saitama prefectures — is also investigating her involvement in a robbery and manslaughter incident that occurred a day earlier in Kokubunji, Tokyo.

Six men between the ages of 20 to 40, believed to be the perpetrators, recruiters and couriers, have already been arrested in connection to the Tokorozawa case. Investigators uncovered Muto’s role through an analysis of the suspects’ mobile phones and bank accounts.

They found that she used her own online banking account to receive money believed to be stolen and to transfer funds to accomplices as rewards or operational expenses.

According to investigators, Muto has denied the allegations, reportedly stating, “I have no recollection of this.” She is believed to have received instructions from a higher-level organizer via an encrypted messaging app, though no direct interactions between her and the alleged accomplices have been confirmed.

The Tokorozawa robbery occurred at around 2:10 a.m. on Oct. 1, when two assailants broke into the home of a couple in their 80s, bound them with adhesive tape, and attacked them with a bladed weapon before stealing approximately ¥160,000 in cash.

Two of the suspects arrested in the Tokorozawa case have also been rearrested for their alleged involvement in the Kokubunji robbery. Investigators suspect Muto managed payments for both incidents.

Translated by The Japan Times