IPNEWS: Tokyo police have arrested two Liberian men on suspicion of stealing cash under the guise of a gold transaction.
The two are charged with stealing ¥34 million ($237,000) brought by a 43-year-old secondhand goods dealer to a hotel in Tokyo’s Chuo Ward around 2 p.m. on Nov. 16, 2023. They both deny the theft allegations, investigative sources said.
According to the sources, the dealer visited the hotel to buy 5 kilograms of gold grains from the Liberian men and another non-Japanese man.
After the dealer showed the cash to them, one of the suspects wrapped the money in newspaper, saying this was for safety. Then the money was replaced with counterfeit bills while the dealer was picking up grains spilled by another man.
The dealer left the hotel to examine the grains and returned some 90 minutes later after finding that they were copper grains painted in gold color. The three men had already disappeared.
The Liberian men left Japan the following day and were arrested Friday after coming back and arriving at Narita International Airport in Chiba Prefecture. The Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department is searching for the remaining suspect, who has fled abroad.
Cash totaling ¥110 million was stolen in five similar cases that took place at hotels in the capital’s Minato and Chiyoda Wards between August last year and June this year, the sources added.
