A man in his 30s suspected of leading a special fraud group has been arrested by the Metropolitan Police Department on suspicion of defrauding people out of cash by posing as city hall staff on the phone, NHK reported. Total losses in the case are believed to exceed ¥2 billion, and part of the money is suspected of having flowed to organized crime.
The arrests concern 特殊詐欺 (tokushu sagi), or special fraud — a category of scam in which callers impersonate public officials, police or relatives to get victims to hand over money or bank cards. City hall impersonation is one of the common scripts.
Police have not disclosed how the money is alleged to have moved from the group to organized crime, or which organization is suspected of receiving it.