Robbery Ring Recruited Subordinates via Purchased X Accounts: Sources

Tokyo, Dec. 8 (Jiji Press)--The four suspected masterminds behind a series of robberies in the Tokyo metropolitan area last year used other people’s X, formerly Twitter, accounts to recruit individuals for “dark” part-time jobs, investigative sources said Monday.

By analyzing smartphones seized in the high-profile serial robbery case, the joint police headquarters, including Tokyo’s Metropolitan Police Department, detected traces of the four suspects having purchased X accounts multiple times on the internet from around late August to late October last year, when the robberies occurred, according to the sources.

The four, including Hiroto Fukuchi, 26, are believed to have used these X accounts to recruit subordinates by posting dark job offers, including those that promised same-day payment and highlighted many available jobs including fraud, robbery and theft.

The police headquarters has also learned that members involved in the robberies exchanged information about selecting subordinates in a group chat on Signal, a highly encrypted and secure communication app, in late May last year, discussing recruitment methods and necessary skills, according to the sources.

Considering the group chat, the headquarters believes that plans for the robberies emerged at least three months prior.

[Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]