Ayumu Kuroda, center in the back row, is transferred to Aichi Prefectural Police's Toyokawa Police Station in the city of Toyokawa, Aichi Prefecture, on Jan. 5, 2022 after he was arrested for allegedly swindling a female university student out of more than 16 million yen. (Mainichi/Kenichiro Fuji)

       NAGOYA -- A 22-year-old former member of a Japanese boy band and another man were arrested on Jan. 5 for allegedly swindling a female university student out of more than 16 million yen (about $138,000) through fraud schemes, including telling her falsely that they could introduce her to entertainers.

       Aichi Prefectural Police's Toyokawa Police Station arrested Ayumu Kuroda, who lives in Osaka's Yodogawa Ward and was a member of the idol group Junon Superboy Anothers, and Ryoya Yatsubayashi, 26, a self-proclaimed home business owner who lives in Osaka's Nishi Ward, on suspicion of fraud.

       Several similar cases have also been reported, and this is the fourth arrest of Kuroda, who has been on trial for fraud. The police station has not made it clear whether the duo have admitted to the allegations.

       Kuroda and Yatsubayashi are specifically accused of teaming up to swindle cash from the 21-year-old university student from the city of Chiba near Tokyo, whom they got acquainted with on the internet, by charging her fees on the pretext of introducing her to celebrities.

       Yatsubayashi reportedly told her in Tokyo on April 28, 2021, "You can meet entertainers for 500,000 yen (approx. $4,300). Though you need to pay an extra 1 million yen (roughly $8,600) as a deposit in the event of this becoming public, but it will be refunded." The suspects then allegedly scammed a total of 1.8 million yen (about $15,500) from the student on three occasions between April 28 and May 17.

       Furthermore, they allegedly told her that they knew someone who was engaging in insider trading, and that investing in these schemes would surely be successful, and reportedly swindled her out of a total of 14.6 million yen (approx. $126,000) over 11 occasions.

       Kuroda was previously arrested in September 2021 for allegedly cheating a female university student in central Japan's Aichi Prefecture out of 1.69 million yen (roughly $15,000) by telling her, "I'll introduce you to a member of a Johnny group," referring to the famous Johnny & Associates Inc. talent agency behind some of Japan's most popular boy idol groups. Since then, Toyokawa Police Station has received consultations about similar incidents from more than 20 people across the country, with financial damage totaling more than 50 million yen (about $430,000).

       Besides celebrity-introduction scams, there have apparently been consultations about damage from investment fraud, and the police station intends to investigate further.

       (Japanese original by Kenichiro Fuji, Nagoya News Center)

       Font Size S M L Print Timeline 0