The Fukuoka police in Japan recently announced the cracking of a transnational investment fraud case and arrested a 30-year-old Chinese man, Liu Jiaqi, accusing him of participating in fraudulent activities. In just two months, he allegedly defrauded a total of approximately 17 million yen from several Japanese victims. Currently, Liu has been criminally detained, and the case is still under ongoing investigation.
According to the police, the case occurred between September and November 2023. Liu Jiaqi and several yet-to-be-arrested accomplices posted fake "high-yield stock investment" advertisements on social media platforms, claiming that stable returns could be achieved in a short time, thus successfully deceiving at least three victims into remitting money to designated accounts.
To enhance the credibility of the scam, the fraud group designed a so-called "initial rebate mechanism": after the victims initially invested money, a small amount of "profit" was quickly returned to create the illusion of effective investment, thereby gaining trust and further encouraging the victims to increase their investment amounts.
The police pointed out that Liu Jiaqi was mainly responsible for collecting and managing the bank account information of the victims and handing it over to accomplices responsible for operating the fund transfers. However, when faced with questioning, Liu strongly denied involvement in the fraud, insisting that he was "only asked to handle account information and was unaware of the operations behind it."
The Fukuoka police stated that new clues have emerged, indicating that the total number of victims in this case may exceed 10, and the amount involved may approach 20 million yen. As the case involves the flow of funds across multiple countries, the investigators preliminarily judged that the group might be a well-organized transnational fraud network, and other Chinese suspects may also be involved.
Liu Jiaqi has now been transferred to the Fukuoka District Prosecutorial Office for further proceedings. The police are intensifying efforts to track the whereabouts of other suspects and are expanding the investigation to include the paths of fund transfers and related accounts.
The Fukuoka police urge the public to be highly vigilant against any investment opportunities that claim "no risk to principal, high returns," especially those promoted through social media apps like Telegram and LINE. The police emphasize that such new types of investment scams are gradually becoming a common mode of transnational fraud in East Asia, with signs indicating that Chinese and Japanese law enforcement may cooperate more closely on such cases.
Experts remind that investment projects that advertise "guaranteed profits without losses" are almost always traps. The public should raise their awareness and avoid falling into similar scams. The case is still under investigation, and more suspects may be arrested in the future.
