Image: Yoel Winkler
A Japanese district court has ordered bailiffs to confiscate a luxury Tokyo high-rise apartment prosecutors believe was bought using casino crime-linked funds.
The Japanese media outlets Asahi Shimbun and NTV News reported that a branch of the Yokohama District Court issued the order at the request of the Kanagawa Prefectural Police.
Legal experts told Japanese media outlets that seizure orders related to real estate holdings are “extremely rare.”
The apartment in question is located in the Harumi District of the Chuo Special Ward. Chuo is one of Tokyo’s most prominent commercial centers.
A suspect accused of using casino crime funds to buy a Tokyo high-rise apartment (center left). (Image: NTV News/Screenshot)
Tokyo High-rise Apartment Bought With Illegal Casino Revenues, Say Police
Media outlets reported that prosecutors have indicted the apartment’s occupant, Yoshinori Kurata (42), on gambling-related charges.
Police think Kurata was the head of an online casino platform’s payment department. The casino, officers claim, is based in Curaçao, a Dutch territory in the Caribbean.
Police officials think the territory is home to around 70% of the online casinos that cater primarily to Japanese bettors.
They have asked Tokyo to call on Curaçao and other territories to close these casinos or force them to block web traffic from Japan.
Gambling online from Japanese territory is a criminal offense.
Police Suspect Tokuryu Links
Officers think a so-called Tokuryu crime group operates the casino site. The police force uses the term Tokuryu to refer to new, loosely organized crime syndicates.
These syndicates, police think, use operating structures that differ greatly from traditional yakuza organizations.
Yakuza gangs famously adhere to rigid systems of hierarchy. Tokuryu, by contrast, use decentralized networks. They rely heavily on messaging apps and dark web portals. Tokuryu allegedly specialize in digital crimes, such as scam and phishing networks, Telegram-powered drug dealing, and online gambling.
Kagawa police say they have traced the source of the money used to buy the property to various criminal transactions. Most of these transactions come from gambling platforms, officers believe.
The Tokyo high-rise apartment block at the heart of the police investigation. (Image: NTV News/Screenshot)
Kurata has been charged with violations of Japan’s Organized Crime Punishment Act. Police think he worked as a “general manager” in the crime group’s unofficial financial department.
Prosecutors indicted him along with eight other suspected “executive-level” gang members.
The apartment cost over 98 million yen ($662,110). Police said that if Kurata is found guilty, the Japanese state will assume ownership of the property.
Police in Japan are continuing to crack down on online casinos and their patrons after lawmakers agreed to introduce harsher punishments for gambling platform operators.
Tokyo has moved to criminalize the posting of online casino ads and introduce jail terms for habitual online gamblers.
AloJapan.com