A man posing as a plainclothes policeman “threatened the victim’s father with 5 million yen” and took a startling photo right after his arrest.

‘You were taking sneak peeks, weren’t you?’

The man allegedly approached the man who was taking pictures of his merchandise and cheated him out of a large “settlement”.

On December 11, Shogo Ikeha, 36, a self-proclaimed sole proprietor living in Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo, was arrested by the Manzehashi Police Station of the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department on suspicion of extortion. Posing as a plainclothes police officer, he allegedly threatened a man in his 20s, Mr. A, at an electronics retail store near JR Akihabara Station and robbed him of 1,080,000 yen. Ikehane has remained silent when questioned by the police.

The alleged incident occurred on July 27. Ikehane conspired with three other members who had already been arrested and threatened Mr. A, who was taking pictures of merchandise at an electronics store with his smartphone, saying, ‘We are plainclothes police officers. We are plainclothes policemen. You were taking spy photos of women, weren’t you? You’ll have to pay us a settlement, but the going rate is 3 million yen.

He then had Ms. A call a man claiming to be the victim’s father and demanded money. Although Ms. A did not engage in voyeurism, she told the interviewer, ‘I was afraid that I would get in trouble with the police.

He is reselling them, isn’t he?”

The photographer for this magazine photographed the suspect Ikehane’s sending to the police station immediately after his arrest on December 12. He showed no sign of offense, but was astonished as he stared at the camera.

There have been a number of private arrests of ordinary people and problems caused by people posing as police officers. The following are some of the recent incidents.

In November ’23, a man in his 40s was arrested on suspicion of defamation. He took pictures of a woman near a theater in Tokyo with his smartphone, accusing her of illegally reselling tickets. Even though the woman did not resell the tickets, her face was exposed on the Internet without mosaic.

In January ’24, two men in their 30s were arrested on suspicion of attempted extortion. The two men were arrested on suspicion of attempted extortion. How much are you going to pay me? They blackmailed him. The male employee was arrested on suspicion of voyeurism, and his statement led to the discovery of the two men’s crime.

In the incident near JR Akihabara Station mentioned at the beginning of this report, at least eight similar cases of damage, believed to have been caused by “voyeurism hunters,” were confirmed between July and August of this year. The total amount of damage is said to exceed 5 million yen. The police are also investigating Ikeha’s other crimes.