Home-renovation rackets net 22.3 bil. yen
February 8, 2006About 24,000 people fell victim to home-renovation fraud cases last year, with the amount of financial damage coming to around 22.3 billion yen, a 16-fold increase from the previous year, the National Police Agency said Thursday. The number of home-renovation fraud cases totaled 64, up 42 from the previous year. These cases were exposed under a law regulating home-call sales, mail-order sales and telemarketing, the NPA said.
Police log record 81 human trafficking cases in 2005
February 8, 2006Police made arrests or sent papers to prosecutors in 81 alleged cases of human trafficking in which foreign women were forced into the sex industry or other forms of exploitation last year, the National Police Agency said Thursday. The latest figure, an increase of two from the previous year, marks a record high for the second straight year since 2001 when the agency began compiling statistics on human trafficking under a more comprehensive format.
Livedoor invested 801 mil. yen in fund at center of fraud scandal
February 8, 2006Livedoor Co. said Wednesday it and its key subsidiary Livedoor Finance Co. invested a combined 801 million yen in one of three investment funds at the center of allegations that the three funds were used to transfer back to the parent firm huge illicit gains from sales of new shares in a Livedoor unit. Livedoor Finance invested 800 million yen in the EFC investment fund and Livedoor itself 1 million yen, according to the company.
Livedoor group firms see stocks jump amid fall in parent stock
February 8, 2006The stock prices of Dynacity Corp. and five other listed member companies of the Livedoor Co. group rose sharply on Wednesday as they moved to review their relations with the scandal-hit Internet company. The stock of condominium developer Dynacity scored a daily limit gain of 3,000 yen over the previous day to finish at 28,330 yen, up by nearly 12 percent.
4 men in Osaka Pref. arrested over illegal production of diesel oil
February 8, 2006Police arrested four men in Osaka Prefecture on Wednesday on suspicion of producing diesel oil without permission from the prefectural government and dealing in the illegal product, police officials said. The Osaka police suspect the four together with other members of a ring producing unauthorized diesel oil have evaded some 1.3 billion yen in diesel oil transaction tax, they said.
High court orders benefit payments for A-bomb survivors in Brazil
February 8, 2006The Hiroshima High Court ordered the Hiroshima prefectural government Wednesday to pay three Japanese atomic-bomb survivors in Brazil healthcare benefits it had declined to give citing legal restrictions on retroactive payments. Overturning a lower court ruling, the high court ordered the prefectural government to pay Shoji Mukai, 78, and the two other plaintiffs a total of 2.9 million yen -- the amount they have demanded.