The Tokyo Metropolitan Police announced on the 18th that a 36-year-old president of a real estate brokerage company based in Shinjuku, Tokyo, had been arrested on suspicion of fraud. The man is accused of hiding the intended use of a rental apartment as a men’s esthetic salon and securing a lease under the false pretense of residential use, earning brokerage fees in the process.
According to the police, the man conspired with others in March, submitting a false application to a business partner real estate company, claiming the apartment in Chuo Ward would be used for residential purposes, when in fact, it was intended for a men’s esthetic salon. He was arrested on the 17th. The man reportedly stated, “I will consult with my lawyer before speaking.”
The real estate company involved had a “sublease agreement,” where they rented the apartment from the owner and re-leased it, with the condition that it be used solely for residential purposes.
The tenant’s name on the lease was a 30-year-old female employee of the men’s esthetic salon, falsely presented as an employee of a fictitious advertising company introduced by the man, allowing the application to pass the screening.
On the 12th of this month, the police also filed fraud charges against a 38-year-old man, the owner of the men’s esthetic salon in Sumida Ward (previously indicted for violating the Anti-Prostitution Law), and the female employee. The owner reportedly admitted, “I knew it was illegal.”
