Japanese trader robbed of P12-M

Two cops and four of their alleged Japanese cohorts were charged at the Department of Justice (DOJ) after a visiting Japanese businesswoman complained that they robbed her of around P12 million in cash and assorted valuables along Magallanes interchange in Makati City.

The suit against Senior Police Officer 1 Victor Garcia and former policeman Egay Castro was lodged at the office of Undersecretary Jose Calida.

Among their alleged cohorts were Watanabe Yoshiaki, Okina Yoshinori, Kubota Tsunehiro and Sugiyama Takashige, the so-called spotter who tipped off the cops that Keiko Kimura, 52, would be arriving from Japan and that she was carrying jewelry and a lot of money.

Kimura, a Tokyo-based trader, is the president of Mai Promotions Ltd., which recruits Filipino women as entertainers in Japan. Takashige, the spotter-turned-whistleblower, is one of her business associates.

Roderick Valbuena, president of A-Max Philippines International Promotion Inc., Kimura’s business partner, said Takashige spilled the beans on the gang after they put one over him, giving him a mere P100,000 share of the P12 million.

Takashige executed an extra-judicial confesson against the two cops, who was also identfied by Kimura. Takashige implicated his three Japanese cohorts in the syndicate, which has been preying on Japanese nationals visiting the country. – Delon Porcalla