TOKYO, Nov 16 (News On Japan) - A group of eight individuals, including Chinese national and company executive Yang Xiaodong, has been arrested on suspicion of selling gold bars with counterfeit stamps from a major precious metals company and passing them off as genuine, generating what investigators believe was roughly 9.5 billion yen in sales.
According to the Metropolitan Police Department, Yang, 39, and the others are suspected of selling 38 counterfeit gold bars to a Tokyo-based dealer between March and April this year, fraudulently obtaining around 600 million yen. Investigators say the group is believed to have smuggled gold into Japan and attached fake stamps and certificates designed to mimic those of a major precious metals firm, allowing them to market the bars as legitimate products on a large scale.
The case came to light as police were pursuing a separate special fraud investigation in which perpetrators posed as police officers to coerce victims into purchasing gold bars. During the course of that investigation, evidence emerged pointing to the counterfeit gold operation.
The Metropolitan Police have not disclosed how each of the eight suspects is responding to the allegations.
Source: TBS
