Tokyo police have arrested three individuals on suspicion of fraud, who are also believed to have been involved in laundering money for a burglary group orchestrated by a figure who goes by the name “Luffy.”
One of the three arrested is Takuya Higuchi, 37, a resident of Toyonaka, Osaka Prefecture, whose occupation is unknown. Media reports said the arrests were made on Monday and Tuesday.
According to police, the suspects are believed to have received part of the stolen proceeds from a string of violent burglaries in the past few years. Investigators suspect the group was involved in laundering money for multiple criminal organizations.
Higuchi is suspected of defrauding a man in his 60s from Chiba Prefecture in April 2023. Pretending to be police investigators, they allegedly called the victim and falsely claimed he had unpaid fees for an adult website, tricking him into handing over approximately ¥1.2 million ($8,560) in cash, according to police sources.
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