Executives of a video production company in Tokyo have been arrested by the Metropolitan Police Department on suspicion of fraud after defrauding a broadcaster of approximately 1 billion yen through a circular transaction that repeats fictitious transactions.
Two people were arrested: Teisuke Asahina (66), the representative director of the video production company "Enbanya" in Shibuya-ku, Tokyo, and former director Mie Hasegawa (46).
According to the Metropolitan Police Department, there is a suspicion of fraud by defrauding broadcasters of about 1 billion yen by pretending to have received an order for video production from September to December six years ago.
It is said that the two pretended to have received an order for a video production job and demanded payment from the broadcaster, while transferring most of the money paid to the operator.
It is believed that about 650 fictitious transactions with a total of 12.2 billion yen were repeated using the same method for nearly 11 years until December 2017.
The Metropolitan Police Department is investigating the details of the transaction, as it was discovered that the payment was delayed and the broadcaster suffered damage of more than 500 million yen.
Police have not released the identity of the two men.