Cambodia-based scammers posing as police arrested over ¥240 million crypto fraud

TOKYO (TR) – Tokyo Metropolitan Police have arrested a man and a woman for allegedly operating out of Cambodia to swindle victims in Japan out of 240 million yen in cryptocurrency by posing as law enforcement officers, reports TBS News (Sep. 26).

Mitsuteru Minamisawa, 38, and Saki Okayama, 31, are accused of conspiring with other members of a fraud ring in August of last year to target a woman in her 40s.

Posing as police officers over the phone, the suspects allegedly told the victim, “A cash card used in a money laundering scheme was found to be yours. You need to prove your innocence.”

Believing the fabricated story, the woman was duped into transferring cryptocurrency worth approximately 81 million yen.

According to investigators, the pair operated out of a base in Cambodia as kakeko (scam callers). Minamisawa is believed to have played a senior role in the syndicate, acting as an interpreter and managing other callers to defraud victims out of a total of 240 million yen in digital assets.

According to the Metropolitan Police Department, the ringleader directing the operation is believed to be a Chinese national.