A suspected member of the Japanese yakuza arrested at Suvarnabhumi airport on Sunday night is the alleged leader of a Cambodia-based scam gang reported to have defrauded its victims of about 200 million baht.
Takafumi Sugawara, 31, was apprehended at a Malaysian Airlines check-in counter at 6.30pm on Sunday, before he could board a flight to Malaysia, Pol Lt Gen Nathasak Chaonasai, commissioner of the Central Investigation Bureau, said on Monday.
He said the man was sought by Japanese police, believed to be a member of the yakuza and suspected of heading a call scam gang in Cambodia. The gang told victims their phone numbers in Japan were being revoked and transferred them to other scammers who pretended to be law officials.
Victims were then told that money in their account had been linked to an illicit business and they had to transfer the money to a designated account for examination. They never saw the money again.
The gang tricked at least 40 victims in 2024 and made off with about 1 billion yen, around 200 million baht.
They also lured Japanese job seekers with bogus recruitment schemes. The victims were brought on flights to Phnom Penh, and were then forced to work for the scammers.
Prior to the suspect's arrest, plain-clothes police posing as travellers had been stationed at Suvarnabhumi airport. The suspect showed up and check-in only minutes before the flight closed, and was caught.
