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May 10, 2024
 

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FRAUD

Whistleblower reports on Bigmotor's fraudulent activities prompted Sompo Japan and two other major nonlife insurers to suspend customer referrals to Bigmotor in June last year, but Sompo Japan soon resumed the referrals.
BUSINESS
Oct 11, 2023
Panel raps Sompo Japan's resumption of business with Bigmotor
The report said the resumption of business was caused by concerns among Sompo Japan execs about possibly losing deals with Bigmotor to rivals.
The number of phone fraud cases involving international calls has been rising sharply in recent months.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Oct 4, 2023
Japan logs sharp rise in phone fraud using international calls
Over half of telephone fraud cases reported in September involved international phone numbers.
Financial Services Agency officials enter Bigmotor's Tama outlet in western Tokyo on Tuesday.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Sep 19, 2023
Watchdog starts on-site probe of Bigmotor and Sompo Japan
The investigation aims to dig deeper into the insurance fraud scandal by the leading used-car dealer. The probe is likely to take several months.
Fuji TV quoted tech journalist Yo Mikami as saying there is a chance that the suspect opened one of the victim's eyelids so he could unlock the smartphone.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Sep 15, 2023
Two men arrested in Tokyo over alleged theft using Face ID
A 27-year-old Tunisian man allegedly used the victim’s smartphone to send ¥500,000 to the bank account of his 25-year-old friend.
A resort hotel in Sihanoukville, Cambodia, where 19 Japanese people believed to be members of a fraud group were staying and later deported in April
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Sep 13, 2023
More than 20 Japanese detained in Cambodia over fraud allegations
The move came after the Japanese Embassy in Cambodia passed on information to local authorities about the existence of Japanese involved in online fraud.
Sompo Japan Insurance President Giichi Shirakawa apologizes during a news conference in Tokyo on Friday.
BUSINESS / Companies
Sep 8, 2023
Sompo Japan president to resign for Bigmotor insurance fraud scandal
The insurer's close relationship with the used car dealership has come under scrutiny since the firm was found to have made fraudulent insurance claims.
Nomura Securities International has agreed to pay $35 million over securities trading fraud which took place from 2009 to 2013 and primarily from the company’s trading floor in New York.
BUSINESS
Aug 23, 2023
Nomura fined $35 million in U.S. over mortgage-backed securities
Nomura Securities International will also pay almost $808,000 in restitution to victims of the scheme.
Cloning a person’s voice is increasingly easy. Once a scammer downloads a short sample from an audio clip they can use AI voice-synthesizing tools to create the content they need.
WORLD / Crime & Legal
Aug 22, 2023
Powered by technology, imposter scams drive new wave of fraud
Scammers methods sound like the stuff of science fiction, but advanced techniques are already available to criminals preying on everyday consumers.
Hiroki Ito (center), who was arrested Wednesday along with 55-year-old Shigeru Sato over their alleged involvement in a Cambodia-based fraud ring, arrives at Haneda Airport on Thursday, following their deportation from the Southeast Asian country.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Aug 16, 2023
Police arrest two Japanese fraud suspects deported from Cambodia
The pair's arrest comes amid numerous cases of Japanese nationals using bases abroad to commit crimes in their home country.
An Indonesian suspect (center), who was arrested in July by Indonesian police for illegally using the credit card information of a Japanese individual stolen through phishing, speaks during a news conference in Jakarta on Tuesday.
JAPAN
Aug 9, 2023
Record ¥3 billion stolen via phishing in Japan in first half of 2023
The number of cases mainly involving phishing this year has already surpassed the annual total of any previous year.
The Metropolitan Police Department is increasing vigilance against fake kidnapping scams targeting Chinese students in Japan.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Aug 4, 2023
Chinese students in Japan coerced into staging own kidnappings
Believing that a Chinese fraud group is behind the scams, Japanese police are increasing vigilance while working together with the Chinese Embassy.
Transport ministry officials enter a Bigmotor dealership in Sapporo on Friday for an on-site inspection.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jul 28, 2023
Transport ministry conducts on-site probe of Bigmotor amid scandal
The surprise inspection, which covered dealerships in 24 prefectures, came after the ministry interviewed Bigmotor executives including newly appointed President Shinji Izumi on Wednesday.
Bigmotor's cozy relations with insurers have come to light in the wake of its scandal over fraudulent auto insurance claims.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jul 27, 2023
Repair fraud scandal spotlights cozy ties between Bigmotor and insurers
Japanese used car dealer Bigmotor's scandal over fraudulent auto insurance claims has spotlighted its cozy relations with major insurers.
Bigmotor President Hiroyuki Kaneshige (center) apologizes for improper conduct by the company's employees at a news conference in Tokyo on Tuesday.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jul 25, 2023
Bigmotor chief to resign in wake of repair fraud scandal
Employees were found to have intentionally damaged the vehicles of some customers in order to charge excessive repair fees and make fraudulent insurance claims.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Jul 19, 2023
Bigmotor releases report on insurance fraud
According to the report, 61 workers, or nearly 60% of 104 surveyed employees, said they had been ordered by their supervisors to pad car repair charges to receive bigger insurance payouts.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Companies
Jul 18, 2023
Carlos Ghosn vows to fight allegations but won't return to Japan
“Nissan will have to pay for what they did to me and my family,” Ghosn said Tuesday, speaking via video link during a news conference in Tokyo.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Jul 15, 2023
Japan police to launch new unit for tackling scams that target the elderly
The envisioned unit is expected to have more members and a larger role than an existing team that was established in 2005 to tackle so-called special fraud cases.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC
May 5, 2023
Industry insiders fear Chinese tropical island may be hub for green fuel fraud
Hainan has become a green-fuel hot spot, accounting for nearly a third of China’s biodiesel exports, but it has no capacity to convert feedstock like used cooking oil into biodiesel.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Apr 11, 2023
Cambodia deports 19 suspects to Japan over alleged involvement in phone scams
The men, in their 20s to 50s, are suspected of defrauding a woman in her 60s living in Tokyo of ¥250,000 worth of BitCash electronic money in January, investigative sources said.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Crime & Legal / Longform
Apr 10, 2023
Are rising crime rates in Japan cause for alarm?
After tumbling for two decades, the number of criminal offenses in the nation jumped last year. Should we be worried?
Tokuryū, a new crime menace in Japan, emerges from the shadows
The National Police Agency coined the term "tokuryū" to classify individuals involved in dark part time jobs and quasi-gangsters, using the words "tokumei" (anonymous) and "ryūdo" (fluid) to reflect their characteristics.
Nearly 6 million elderly people in Japan will have dementia by 2040
The latest figure is significantly less than a previous projection released in 2015 that said more than 8 million people would have dementia by 2040.
Thanks, tourists. Views of Mount Fuji are now blocked.
Tourists pose in front of a convenience store with Mount Fuji on Friday in the town of Fujikawaguchiko, Yamanashi Prefecture. Local residents are upset over littering, overcrowding and the inconvenience caused by the visitors.
Is Modi’s party heading for a stunning election loss?
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi's campaign tactics have escalated, including anti-Muslim rhetoric and fearmongering, reflecting his ruling party's desperation.
Man arrested over fatal stabbing of young woman in Shinjuku
A 51-year-old man was arrested Wednesday on suspicion of stabbing a young woman to death in Tokyo's Shinjuku Ward.
Stormy seas ahead as Beijing and Manila trade barbs over secret deal
Philippine Marines wave to Philippine Navy personnel and the media during a resupply mission at their military outpost, the BRP Sierra Madre, a warship run aground in the disputed Second Thomas Shoal in 1999, in the South China Sea, in March 2014.
Unlike 10 years ago, Japan's new security bill sparks little debate
The Lower House starts discussing a security clearance bill on April 19 in Tokyo.
After blockbuster boxing victory, what next for ‘Monster’ Inoue?
Naoya Inoue celebrates his victory over Luis Nery in their IBF-WBA-WBC-WBO super bantamweight title boxing match at Tokyo Dome on Monday.
Xi bristles as Macron and von der Leyen urge China to do more on Ukraine
French President Emmanuel Macron, Chinese leader Xi Jinping and European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen walk after their meeting in Paris on Monday.
How a Japanese scientist is turning the climate crisis into music
A screencap of a performance of Hiroto Nagai's “String Quartet No. 1 ‘Polar Energy Budget’” by the PRT Quartet

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