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.