Suspects in a high-profile ¥423 million ($2.65 million) robbery case in Tokyo in January purchased luxury items or repaid debts after the incident, investigative sources have said.
They are likely to have used part of the stolen money, the sources said Sunday.
Tokyo’s Metropolitan Police Department is stepping up its investigation into the case, believing that the suspects knew in advance the date and time of the transfer of the cash and where the money was to be taken.
The MPD arrested seven people Saturday for allegedly stealing three suitcases containing a total of ¥423 million in cash on a street in Tokyo’s Taito Ward and assaulting a 43-year-old man, such as by using pepper spray, around 9:30 p.m. on Jan. 29.
Of the suspects, Jinryu Kano, 21, a senior member of a group affiliated with Yamaguchi-gumi, a major organized crime syndicate, bought a foreign-brand watch worth about ¥2 million and a minivan priced at approximately ¥10 million after the suspected robbery, according to the sources.
Koji Koike, 47, purchased a car priced at some ¥3 million, while some suspects repaid debts, the sources said.
In addition, about ¥10 million in cash was confiscated from a place linked to Yuto Ito, 27, a high-ranking member of a group under the aegis of Sumiyoshi-kai, another major crime syndicate, according to the sources.
Koike and Kano are seen to have directed the robbery, while Ito and two others are believed to have actually committed the theft. The remaining two suspects procured vehicles used in the crime, the investigative sources said.
AloJapan.com