Japanese man accused of fraud arrested in Indonesia

(8 Jun 2022)
RESTRICTION SUMMARY:
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Jakarta – 8 June 2022
1. Director of Immigration Supervision and Enforcement at the Directorate General of Immigration, I Nyoman Gede Surya Mataram, and police attaché at the Japanese embassy, Miyagawa Takayuki, arriving at press conference
2. Man accused of fraud, Mitsuhiro Taniguchi, walking past camera, standing facing the wall
3. Mid of Taniguchi facing wall
4. Mid of conference
5. SOUNDBITE (Indonesian) I Nyoman Gede Surya Mataram, Director of Immigration Supervision and Enforcement at the Directorate General of Immigration:
“He (the fugitive) is an investor. He should not work and only invest. From the information we received, this guy is doing a fishery business, namely a fish pond in Lampung (where he was arrested).”
6. Mid of conference
7. SOUNDBITE (English) Miyagawa Takayuki, police attaché at the Japanese embassy:
“For the further process (of deportation) we shall coordinate with Japan authority and Indonesian authority.
Reporter (English): “How?”
Miyagawa Takayuki (English): “We will coordinate with Indonesian authority and Japanese authority. So we have to look into it for now.”
8. Taniguchi being led away by immigration officers
STORYLINE:
Authorities on the southern tip of Indonesia’s Sumatra island arrested a Japanese fugitive accused of fraud in Japan in connection with the receipt of a massive amount of COVID-19 subsidies for small businesses in distress, police said Wednesday.
Mitsuhiro Taniguchi, 47, was arrested late Tuesday night in Kalirejo village of Central Lampung district, by immigration officers and backed by local police, according to the police.
National Police spokesperson, Dedi Prasetyo, said Taniguchi was wanted by Japanese police over pandemic subsidy fraud and left Japan for Indonesia in October 2020.
He and a group of acquaintances allegedly submitted some 1,700 false applications for COVID-19 relief funds.
The Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department believes they received subsidies in more than 960 of those applications for an estimated 960 million yen ($7.3 million).
Prasetyo said there was no red notice related to Taniguchi’s case, but Indonesian police have taken proactive steps by coordinating with immigration to detect his presence since entering Indonesian territory.
Director of Control and Enforcement at the Directorate General of Immigration, I Nyoman Gede Surya Mataram, said in the press conference on Wednesday that Taniguchi was working in Lampung when he was arrested.
Taniguchi has been handed over to the Directorate of Immigration’s Supervision and Enforcement division and authorities are coordinating with Japanese diplomats on a deportation process.
AP Video shot by Andi Jatmiko
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