HOKKAIDO — Police here have arrested a 48-year-old unemployed man on suspicion of extortion after he allegedly threatened a pedestrian and demanded cash in an underground shopping mall in Sapporo City, local media reports.
Makoto Takahashi, of no fixed address, is accused of extorting approximately 15,000 yen from an unacquainted man in his 30s in Chuo Ward on the evening of April 26.
At around 7:20 p.m., Takahashi allegedly picked a fight with the victim as they walked through an underground mall, falsely claiming the man had bumped into him.
Takahashi then escalated the situation by threatening the victim’s livelihood, telling him, “I’m with anti-social forces [yakuza]. Do you care what happens to your family and your company?”
Takahashi turned himself in at a local police station two days later. During questioning, he admitted to the allegations, reportedly telling investigators, “I did it because I was struggling to make a living.”
Authorities are currently investigating Takahashi’s potential involvement in a string of similar extortion cases recently reported in the surrounding area.
AloJapan.com