A “psychic YouTuber” who mugged viewers who came for a “ghost test” and “wouldn’t tell the police if you pay 300,000 yen” (Japanese only).

A YouTuber who was managing a haunted place was ducking viewers behind the scenes–.

On December 19, Satoshi Tajiri, 32, an employee of a major machinery manufacturer “Kubota” in Osaka City, and YouTuber Masamichi Tasaka, 40, and his wife Ruka, 30, both of Neyagawa City (Osaka Prefecture), were arrested for causing trouble and extorting cash from four men and women in their 20s who visited an abandoned hotel in Kasagi Town, Kyoto Prefecture. The suspects were arrested by the Kyoto Prefectural Police Kizu Police Station on December 19 on suspicion of extortion and violating the Lawyer Law.

The suspects threatened four people, including a company employee in his 20s, who entered the grounds of the Kasagi Kanko Hotel, a haunted place in Kasagi Town, Kyoto Prefecture, in August and September of this year to test their courage. Later, they called the suspects and asked them to remit a total of 1.2 million yen.

Around the “Kasagi Kanko Hotel,” which was the scene of the crime, there was a warning sign that read, “If you enter the hotel without permission from here, you are deemed to have agreed to pay 300,000 yen for the use of the facilities. The suspects also gave the victims a choice of ‘civil or criminal charges’ to incite their fear and make them pay the money in a civil manner. It seems that it was Tajiri who planned the crime,” said a reporter from the society department of a national newspaper.

The alleged ringleader, Tajiri, approached the owner of the hotel property, asking him to allow him to manage the building for free, and has been in charge of the building management since the end of July. The three suspects, including Tajiri, who was active as a psychic YouTuber, posted videos on YouTube.

In the video, they went out of their way to incite viewers’ curiosity to visit the hotel by including the following message: “Recently, many fires and vandalism have been occurring at abandoned buildings, including here at the Kasagi Kanko Hotel.

The suspects installed a surveillance camera with a sensor at the entrance of the former hotel, and parked their car nearby to stand by. Almost every day, they watched to see if anyone was coming in or out of the hotel. Whenever they found someone entering the premises, the suspects would rush to the scene and force the victims to pay a settlement, using tactics such as those used in this case. In addition to the four victims uncovered this time, 30 other people had been threatened by the suspects using the same tactics”.

At the time of his arrest, the suspect showed no signs of remorse, saying, “Why should we be the ones to catch the criminals? We hope that he will quickly realize the maliciousness of his act of posting videos to lure viewers and eventually extort money from them, while being entrusted with the management of the building.