News On Japan

Indonesia deports Japanese man accused of COVID relief fraud

Jun 22 (The Telegraph) - Indonesia early Wednesday deported a Japanese man to Tokyo where police have accused him, his family and acquaintances of participating in a fraud scheme that netted $7.3 million intended for small businesses hurt by the coronavirus pandemic.

Mitsuhiro Taniguchi, 47, was presented to journalists at the Directorate General of Immigration office in Jakarta before he was sent on a morning Japan Airlines flight to Tokyo.

“He was deported from Indonesia since his passport has been revoked by the Japanese government and he had no residence permit. He will be banned from entering Indonesia in the future,” immigration official Douglas Simamora said at a new conference confirming the man’s deportation.

Taniguchi was arrested on June 4 at a house that owned by a fish trader in Lampung province. During his stay there, he described himself as an investor and invited the local residents to invest in fisheries. Indonesian authorities are investigating whether other people in Indonesia were involved in the Japanese fraud scheme

Taniguchi and a group of acquaintances allegedly submitted about 1,700 false applications for COVID-19 relief funds. The Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department believes they received subsidies on more than 960 of those applications totaling an estimated 960 million yen ($7.3 million).

Source: ANNnewsCH

News On Japan
POPULAR NEWS

A Japanese government spokesperson says a Russian military airplane entered Japanese airspace three times on Monday. (NHK)

Seven people are dead in the wake of torrential downpours in Japan's central Ishikawa Prefecture that have caused rivers to flood and mudslides across the Noto region. Some people living in temporary shelters following the New Year's Day earthquake are once again facing recovery efforts, this time from flooding. (NHK)

Signs of winter are already arriving. Mount Rishiri in Hokkaido recorded the first snowfall of the season on Sunday, making it the first observed in Japan this year.

A test flight for flying cars was conducted in Wakayama Prefecture on Saturday, reaching an altitude of 40 meters, demonstrating stability in windy conditions.

Shohei Ohtani returned to Dodger Stadium in spectacular fashion, hitting a home run and stealing a base in his first game back, raising his season total to 52 home runs and 52 stolen bases.

MEDIA CHANNELS
         

MORE Society NEWS

A group of Humboldt penguins at Tokuyama Zoo in Yamaguchi Prefecture has captured people's hearts, as they chase a butterfly that had accidentally flown into their pool enclosure.

A man in his 30s was stabbed in the chest at an anime song event in Saku City, Nagano Prefecture on Sunday, leaving the victim serious injured.

Tokyo has launched an official matchmaking app in an effort to increase the number of marriages, particularly as the city struggles with the lowest birthrate in Japan.

A search for 'breast pump' 「搾乳機」on YouTube returns numerous videos with titles like 'Introduction to Breast Pumping.' But what exactly are these videos?

Four high school students, aged 16 to 18, have been arrested on suspicion of injuring a third-year junior high school boy in a park in Machida City, Tokyo, in May of this year.

A fire broke out at a shrine in Ami-machi, Ibaraki Prefecture, burning a sacred tree over 500 years old, with police investigating the cause as a lightning strike.

A regional headquarters of the Japan Coast Guard has arrested the head of the operating company of a sightseeing boat that sank off the coast of Hokkaido, northern Japan, in 2022. (NHK)

Seven members of the organized crime group 'Chinese Dragon,' including 50-year-old Kazujirou Shirai, were arrested for disrupting business operations by causing a public disturbance in front of an Apple store in Omotesando, Shibuya Ward, Tokyo.