A 30-year-old woman pleaded guilty Monday to charges of helping to move cash stolen in a fatal burglary in Yokohama last October in which a 75-year-old man was killed.
“I don’t know where the money came from,” Miho Kimoto told the first trial hearing at the Yokohama District Court, although she admitted to moving it.
Monday’s court session was the first trial over a burglary case in which suspects broke into the home of Hiroharu Goto, 75, in Yokohama’s Aoba Ward, killing him and stealing about ¥200,000 in cash.
Prosecutors said in their opening statements that an unknown individual who was giving instructions told another suspect, Mazuki Takarada, 23, on Oct. 15 where to leave money he allegedly stole from Goto's home.
The same person, who went by the nickname "Groudon," then told Kimoto that there was an envelope in a public restroom at a park in Tokyo’s Adachi Ward containing ¥118,000 in cash, and that she was to move it after confirming the amount, which she did after Takarada left, the prosecutors argued.
The trial is one of many linked to a series of burglary cases in Tokyo and its vicinity where suspects were recruited to commit crimes through yami baito, or “shady” part-time jobs. Media reports allege Kimoto was hired to move the cash via a yami baito posting.
Yami baito refers to vague job postings on social media that tout fast and easy money but often turn out to involve crimes such as fraud and burglary. Once someone applies for the job and provides their personal information, the recruiter often threatens to hurt their family and friends, making it difficult for them to refuse the work.
Similar robberies and assaults linked to yami baito have occurred in places such as Ichikawa, Chiba Prefecture, and in Tokyo's Kokubunji in September.
Takarada, who is accused of carrying out the violent burglary, has been indicted for robbery resulting in death, among other charges. Kaito Hosaka, 25, who is accused of taking the stolen money from Kimoto, has been indicted for moving stolen goods.
The two men were also indicted for allegedly carrying out violent crimes in Chiba Prefecture in October.
Chiba Prefectural Police also arrested Kimoto on suspicion that she collected ¥9.9 million stolen from a home in Funabashi, Chiba Prefecture, in October.
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