2 of 4 Japanese Fraud Suspects Arrested after Leaving Philippines

Manila, Feb. 7 (Jiji Press)--Two of the four Japanese fraud suspects believed to be also linked to a series of robberies in Japan were arrested by Tokyo police Tuesday morning after leaving an airport in the Manila metropolitan area in the Philippines earlier in the day for extradition to Japan.

Investigators of the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department who had been sent to the Philippines arrested the two--Kiyoto Imamura, 38, and Toshiya Fujita, 38--aboard a plane bound for Japan.

The MPD suspects that the four include senior members of a special fraud group that is believed to have caused fraud losses totaling over 6 billion yen and may have also been involved in the robbery cases in Japan.

Among the four, Yuki Watanabe, 38, is apparently a leader figure of the group based in the Philippines, according to investigative sources.

The MPD had obtained arrest warrants for the four, detained at an immigration facility in the Philippines, on theft charges over a special fraud case in Tokyo in 2019, asking Manila to extradite them.

[Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]