Japanese businessman Kazutsugi Nami arrested for £1bn fraud

Police obtained arrest warrants Tuesday for 22 people, including executives of Tokyo-based bedding supplier L&G KK, on suspicion of collecting a large amount of investment money from clients despite knowing they could not provide the promised returns, police said. The 22, including L&G Chairman Kazutsugi Nami, 75, are expected to be arrested as early as Thursday over the alleged fraud case, investigative sources said.

Nami and other suspects allegedly collected more than 200 billion yen from investors, including housewives and the elderly, according to a joint investigative squad of the Metropolitan Police Department and the Fukushima and Miyagi prefectural police. Nami and the others had promised the investors that the company would pay a 9 percent dividend every three months if they deposited 1 million yen with the firm. They also collected funds by issuing their own ‘‘Enten’’ currency and pledging to pay at least 100,000 yen worth of Enten every year for deposits of at least 100,000 yen in cash.