Choking Yakuza Money

The government of Japan deals with every issue with a concept of distributing public money. To dismantle a criminal organization, law enforcement section newly introduced a concept of tax evasion. Local police arrested a gangster leader focusing on system with which the criminal organization sucked up money for their activities. People are looking at the effort of police to restore peace in cities and towns.

The Special Investigation Team of Fukuoka Prefectural Police Office arrested Satoru Nomura, the President of Kudo-kai that was registered as wide-area gangster organization. Nomura was suspected as hiding over \200 million of income, worth \88 million of tax evasion that had been collected from his members. The police supposes that he has accumulated \2.2 billion of illegal money.

According to the investigation of police, Nomura collects \240 million of money from branch organization every year. If the money had been stocked in his office, it would not be accused as tax evasion, because gangster organization is legally regarded as voluntary organization such as parent-teachers organization. Cooperating with National Tax Agency, Fukuoka Police Office found that a part of collected money had been privately used for the relatives of Nomura.

Yakuza organization require money for their activities like inauguration of new boss, funeral of victims in collision with rival organization or other ceremony to demonstrate its integrated power. To use collected money for those purposes cannot be blamed as illegal use of money. But, disturbing money flow is the key to paralyze gang organization. “We can wedge their system for maintaining the organization at last,” told an officer for Fukuoka Police Office.

Kudo-kai kept on let innocent people involved in their street fights. Last year, a member was arrested with suspicion of murdering former leader of fishery cooperative, who had not been cooperative with criminal activities of gang organization. Other members were consequently arrested with murder of a nurse or a dentist. To expand its interest in underground business, Kudo-kai reiterated murders of the people who stood up to exclude violence in civil society.

Nomura reportedly denied his suspect on tax evasion to the interview in police. “Our income is limited in management of car parking and I have been reporting it,” Nomura told to police officers. It is known that he had appropriately been paying tax for his own real estate in Kitakyushu city and a car parking in it.

If his detention extended, however, his organization may be weakened with absence of commander. Police organization laid unusual posture to support Fukuoka Police Office, designating this case as a pilot operation to dismantle other gang organization in all over Japan. One police officer called this case a fight we cannot be defeated.