Four men arrested for opening bank accounts for money laundering
On September 13, Japanese police arrested 4 men in Tokyo who allegedly were opening bank accounts used for money laundering by one or more overseas crime groups. According to the police, gangster Manabu Fukuda, travel executive Christopher Ariri Noguchi, a former Nigerian national living in Saitama Prefecture, and 2 other Japanese men opened bank accounts knowing that they would be used for money laundering.
Chiba Prefectural Police located east of Tokyo have confirmed that about JPY 1.3 billion has been remitted from 6 countries, including the US and Germany, to about 100 bank accounts opened by the suspects from December 2004 to October 2006.
It is also investigated by police whether the suspects have broken the organized crime law.
Earlier this month, Saitama Prefectural Police arrested 5 Japanese and one Nigerian man for allegedly being involved in money laundering on behalf of US crime syndicates.
A possible relationship between the two above-mentioned cases is being investigated.Â