Largest COVID-19 fraud: how one family embezzled close to 1bn JPY in subsidies

[thomas]

If you think embezzling 43.6m JPY is a big deal, check out the Taniguchi family: they made hundreds of fraudulent Covid-19 subsidy applications and received about 960 million yen ($7.5 million)!

Police believe it may be the largest case ever of benefit fraud involving just one group and arrested his ex-wife, Rie Taniguchi, 45, a company executive; her eldest son, Daiki, 22, whose occupation is unknown; and her second son, 21, who was 19 years old at the time. Investigators said the three submitted false applications from June to August 2020, at the request of three other people living in Tokyo and Hyogo Prefecture, claiming that their sales had decreased due to the pandemic. The three are suspected of defrauding the government of 3 million yen in COVID-19 subsidies. The three suspects were apparently instructed by Mitsuhiro Taniguchi to submit false tax returns, prepared by the second son on behalf of the person registered with the tax office, and obtain copies of the returns. The ex-wife and eldest son then went through the application procedures to obtain the subsidies, according to investigators.

Family arrested in connection with large COVID subsidy fraud | The Asahi Shimbun: Breaking News, Japan News and Analysis

 

[thomas]

Yesterday, more details on this elaborate fraud case emerged: Mitsuhiro Taniguchi, the mastermind behind the scheme, was a representative of a restaurant management company in Tokyo's Roppongi district who organised informational seminars about applying for Covid-19 subsidies, harvesting the personal details of hundreds of attendees. He and his group submitted some 1,780 fraudulent applications, 960 of which were approved. Taniguchi and his group received up to hundreds of thousands of yen in each instance as rewards. While two of his sons and his ex-wife were arrested, he is suspected of having escaped to Indonesia.

Family suspected of filing for 1,780 COVID subsidies over 4 months | The Asahi Shimbun: Breaking News, Japan News and Analysis