Japanese fraud ring chief falls

MANILA, Philippines —  Japan’s most wanted fugitive, who allegedly led a land fraud syndicate, was arrested in Makati on Wednesday, the Bureau of Immigration (BI) said yesterday.

Misao Koyama, also known as Misao Kaminsukaso, was apprehended along Gil Puyat Avenue on Dec. 19 by operatives from the BI’s Fugitive Search Unit (FSU) and the Tokyo Interpol.

Koyama arrived in the country in the second week of October on a tourist visa, BI spokesperson Dana Sandoval said.

“He left Japan right before he was charged. He just went here to escape prosecution,” she said.

FSU chief Bobby Raquepo said Koyama is allegedly the leader of an eight-man fraud ring accused of selling other people’s property by using forged documents. 

They have reportedly swindled “billions of yen” from their victims in Japan, he said.