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July 26, 2025
 

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FRAUD

Tomonobu Kojima arrives at Tokyo's Haneda Airport in February 2023 after being deported from the Philippines.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Jul 23, 2025
Senior member of 'Luffy' crime ring gets 20 years in prison
Tomonobu Kojima, 47, was the first of the four indicted members of the group, whose members went by the nickname "Luffy," to receive a court ruling.
Samsung Electronics Chairman Jay Y. Lee arrives at a court in Seoul on Feb. 3.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jul 17, 2025
South Korea's top court clears Samsung chairman Lee in 2015 fraud case
The Supreme Court's verdict permanently removes a long-running legal distraction for Lee as Samsung plays catch-up in a global race to develop cutting-edge AI chips.
The Tokyo District Public Prosecutors Office.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Jul 15, 2025
23-year sentence sought for senior member of 'Luffy' crime ring
"The cases have led to many copycat crimes, and the defendant should be punished severely," prosecutors stressed.
Buildings inside the Golden Triangle Special Economic Zone along the Mekong river in the Bokeo province of Laos on May 26.
ASIA PACIFIC / Crime & Legal
Jul 15, 2025
'Las Vegas in Laos': the riverside city awash with crime
With the initial aim of attracting tourists with casinos and resorts, the Golden Triangle Special Economic Zone quickly became a center for money laundering and trafficking.
As crypto adoption grows and Bitcoin hits new highs, a surge in violent attacks, kidnappings and hacks targeting holders underscores the steep and often overlooked cost of being your own bank in a cashless world.
COMMENTARY / World
Jul 11, 2025
Crypto crime is the future. Bank heists are history.
Banks are no longer easy or juicy targets for robbers, with heists down more than 80% since the 1990s as branches close and piles of cash hoarded in safes become a rarity.
A video by the National Police Agency warns about fake scams.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Jul 8, 2025
Scams involving police impersonation surge
Victims lost over ¥30 billion to such fraud cases in the first five months of 2025.
Every year, an amount equivalent to roughly 15% of the world's economy flows through Visa's networks, and bad actors are constantly trying to siphon off some of that.
BUSINESS / Tech
Jul 7, 2025
Visa's 24/7 war room takes on global cybercriminals
The payments giant has invested $12 billion over the past five years building artificial intelligence-powered cyber fraud detection capabilities.
Donald Trump addresses the Bitcoin Conference in Nashville, Tennessee, in July last year.
WORLD / Politics
Jul 6, 2025
Cashing in on his comeback, Trump rescues frail finances
Contrary to the president’s assertions, records filed in a fraud case against him suggest that his riches were not the product of a steady and strong empire.
Tomonobu Kojima, admitted his involvement in the "Luffy" cases at the first hearing of his trial at Tokyo District Court on Tuesday.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Jul 2, 2025
Senior member of 'Luffy' crime ring pleads guilty at hearing
Tomonobu Kojima, 47, said, "There is no mistake" regarding his charges of aiding robberies and committing fraud.
Police arrested two Nepalese men living in Tokyo for allegedly contacting a woman via social media pretending to be Shohei Ohtani and swindling money out of her.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Jun 25, 2025
Nepalese men posing as Ohtani arrested over fraud charges
Two suspects, both living in Tokyo's Adachi Ward, are believed to have swindled ¥1 million from a woman in Tokyo in early to mid-November last year.
ASIA PACIFIC
Jun 25, 2025
Foreigners rescued from scam centers still stuck along Thai-Myanmar border
The Karen National Army, a rebel group, said it was currently housing 216 people, including citizens of Vietnam, China, the Philippines, and Indonesia.
The International Border Checkpoint of Poipet, Banteay Meanchey province, Cambodia
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Jun 24, 2025
Thailand targets Cambodian scam centers amid border dispute
As part of the crackdown, Thailand will ban foreign tourists from crossing over to Cambodia and curb air travel to Siem Reap for gambling purposes, Paetongtarn said.
MUFG Bank said Monday that a former employee in his 60s has defrauded a customer out of ¥39.84 million by suggesting fictitious financial products and issuing forged deposit receipts.
JAPAN
Jun 23, 2025
Ex-MUFG bank worker defrauds customer of ¥39.84 million
The Niigata District Public Prosecutors Office indicted the former worker at the major Japanese bank's Niigata branch.
Forged My Number cards and other ID cards seized by police are shown at a police station in Tokyo in December 2023.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Jun 20, 2025
Japan to require IC chip ID verification for online bank accounts in 2027
The new rule is designed to prevent fraudulent accounts from being opened under stolen identities.
Eight banks have entered into an agreement with the National Police Agency to share information on suspicious accounts as part of efforts to combat special fraud schemes.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Jun 18, 2025
Major banks team up with police to combat special fraud
Under a new agreement, the banks will send information on suspicious accounts directly to the police instead of channeling it through the Financial Services Agency.
Ippei Mizuhara, a former interpreter for Los Angeles Dodgers' Shohei Ohtani, in February in California
JAPAN
Jun 17, 2025
Ohtani's ex-interpreter Mizuhara begins prison sentence
Mizuhara, 40, was sentenced to four years and nine months in prison on charges of bank and tax fraud in a high-profile theft case.
Reports about fraudulent online rice shops to consumer affairs centers around the country spiked to 335 cases in April and May alone.
JAPAN
Jun 14, 2025
Reports of online rice scams surging in Japan
Reports about fraudulent online rice shops to consumer affairs centers around the country spiked to 335 cases in April and May alone, as much as is normally seen in a year.
A growing number of consumers, particularly people in their 50s and older, are seeking advice on troubles involving social media.
JAPAN
Jun 13, 2025
Social media user worries swell to record level in Japan
Consumers in Japan sought advice on social media-related problems in a record 86,396 cases in 2024, an annual government report showed Friday.
Kenji Nanba, a former manager of Nihon University’s weightlifting club, is believed to use his authority as manager to compel staff to give him rides.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Jun 11, 2025
Ex-Nihon University weightlifting manager allegedly forced staff to give him rides
Kenji Nanba, 63, allegedly used his authority as manager to compel staff to give him rides to and from work.
Kenji Nanba (left), a former manager of Nihon University's weightlifting club, is transferred to the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department's Shinagawa Station on Tuesday.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Jun 10, 2025
Former manager of Nihon University weightlifting club arrested over fraud
The university believes the former manager began such scams around 20 years ago or earlier, receiving a total of ¥53.2 million.
Tokyo is the No. 2 choice for international students
The University of Tokyo. International students are increasingly flocking to Asia, with affordability being a particularly important metric.
Junglia, Japan’s newest theme park, opens in northern Okinawa
In Junglia’s Dinosaur Safari attraction during a media preview on Thursday, a casual drive through a habitat for the prehistoric creatures goes haywire when several Tyrannosaurus rexes break out of containment.
Big unanswered questions follow Japan's big, beautiful deal with the U.S.
U.S. President Donald Trump on Wednesday in Washington, the day after he agreed to an 11th-hour trade deal with Japan.
Extreme heat grips Japan, even Hokkaido
The city of Obihiro in Hokkaido amid scorching heat on Thursday
Japan ties with South Korea for second most powerful passport
Japanese passport holders have visa-free access to 190 destinations out of 227 globally.
Hall of Fame always held deeper meaning for Ichiro
Ichiro presents then-Hall of Fame President Jeff Idelson with the bat he used to break the single-season hits record in 2004.
Japan leans into homegrown AI amid rising competition
McKinsey’s 2025 Technology Trends Outlook, published Wednesday, says that the use of “sovereign AI” is a trend gaining significant global traction, including in Japan.
JT picks: What not to miss at Fuji Rock 2025
Fuji Rock Festival turns the green slopes of Niigata Prefecture’s Naeba Ski Resort into a summer escape that offers soundtracks for every mood.
Japan’s top brands get tied up in the great sunscreen debate
A coral reef in Okinawa in July 2022. Some jurisdictions around the world have moved to ban certain sunscreens in a bid to protect coral reefs, but some say the impact on reefs is far from clear.

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