Yakuza member arrested in Thailand

BANGKOK, March 2 (TNA) - Police have arrested a member of a Yakuza group who was hiding in Thailand after tricking Japanese victims out of 500 million baht in a phone scam style. Deputy National Police Chief Jakthip Chaijinda told reporters that the Yakuza group's member, Chinichi Nagata, was arrested in Pattaya of seaside Chon Buri Province on Sunday evening. Police General Jakthip said that Nagata was a member of Sumiyoshi, the second largest Yakuza gang in Japan, which changed from threats to phone scam-styled frauds and had tricked victims out of over 500 million baht altogether. According to the deputy national police chief, Japanese authorities asked the Thai police on February 25 to find the man because he was wanted for running the scam, in which gang members phoned victims and lured them into transferring money for bond trade from April 7 to July 31, 2014. The deputy national police chief revealed that the gang made off with 85 million yen or about 22 million baht in the latest scam. Earlier, Japanese police arrested 21 other Yakuza members of the gang, but Nagata fled to Thailand. (TNA)