Secrets of the “Luffy Group” — From Torture Videos to a Calculated System of Control

In an emaciated state

The man who appeared in court looked far more emaciated compared to footage from the time he was deported from the Philippines. Once a burly figure with flashy shaved-side hair, he now had short hair grown out from a shaved head and appeared like an ordinary middle-aged man who had lost his vigor.

This was the current appearance of Tomonobu Kojima (47), one of the ringleaders of the crime group calling itself “Luffy,” which carried out a string of nationwide robberies starting in 2022.

According to people close to Kojima, “he has lost about 40 kilograms since returning to Japan.” The drastic change was shocking even to the assembled press.

On July 23, Kojima was sentenced to 20 years in prison for charges including assisting in three robbery-injury cases—such as the robbery in Inagi, Tokyo—and fraud related to 10 special telephone scam cases. “This is a new type of serious crime, and harsh punishment is necessary from a deterrence standpoint,” explained the presiding judge. When asked, “Do you understand?” Kojima gave a faint nod and replied, “Yes.”

Kojima, along with Mato Imamura (41), Yuki Watanabe (41), and Seiya Fujita (41), was considered a ringleader of the “Luffy” group. As the first trial among the ringleaders, it drew heavy public attention—so much so that some observers could not even get into the courtroom on the 23rd.

The hearings opened on July 1. The court revealed details about the incidents, the presented evidence, and internal conflicts within the group. The following will record, in two parts, the words spoken by the “Luffy” gang leader during the trial.

The salary was 2 million yen per month

The defense admitted to all of the charges read aloud by the prosecution, which took nearly 40 minutes. The only point of contention was the severity of the sentence. While most of the perpetrators directly involved in the robberies face life imprisonment, those who carried out the special fraud schemes have been given only a few years of fixed-term sentences. For this reason, legal experts were divided on the appropriate sentencing for Kojima.

A lawyer well-versed in criminal cases said, “Based on precedent, the usual sentence would be around 15 years at most.” Perhaps for that reason, the prosecution repeatedly emphasized the need to “take into account the social impact.” They stated that “he played an important role as a recruiter in the robbery case by introducing defendant Fujita as an executor,” that “the incidents caused great anxiety throughout society,” and that “he was one of the few people within the group who could come into contact with Watanabe,” and therefore demanded 23 years in prison.

On the other hand, the defense argued that “the defendant Kojima had no decision-making authority within the group,” that “he was not in the position of being the number two in the fraud group,” and that “he was not actively involved in the robberies,” and thus asserted that “11 years in prison would be appropriate.”

The prosecution demanded 23 years in prison.

The defense, meanwhile, argued that Kojima had no decision-making power within the group, was not the number two figure in the fraud organization, and was not actively involved in the robberies. They claimed that 11 years’ imprisonment would be appropriate.

Kojima had traveled to the Philippines in the summer of 2018 after falling into debt of around 3 million yen due to cryptocurrency investments. To repay this debt, he was coerced into joining a special fraud scheme, beginning as a “kakeko” (telephone scam caller) in Manila. In other words, he started at the very bottom of the organization. At the top stood Watanabe, who ruled as the boss of a unit known as a box.

Kojima admitted that he had no talent for deceiving people and was unremarkable as a kakeko. But Watanabe recognized his skills in PC work and administrative tasks, eventually promoting him from recruiter for “ukeko” (money mules) to roles such as treasurer and collections officer. His salary, which began at around 100,000 yen per month, later rose to a fixed wage of roughly 2 million yen.

In 2019, during Kojima’s second year in the Philippines, Imamura—later to become one of the masterminds behind the nationwide robberies—joined the organization, initially renting space from Watanabe’s base of operations. The two had been longtime friends, and Imamura’s unit became known as the “K-box,” derived from his name, Kiyoto.

Kojima served as Imamura’s advisor in running special fraud schemes. However, while Watanabe’s “A-box” sometimes raked in nearly 100 million yen per month, Imamura’s “K-box” generated far less. By the summer of 2019, Watanabe had purchased a former hotel for around 1.2 billion yen, transforming it into a new organizational hub.

What set Watanabe’s fraud group apart was the way its members carried out criminal acts as though they were simply routine business. Within the organization, they referred to it as a company, and to fraud as work or operations.

Filmed a gruesome torture video

Defendant Kojima, when asked by the judge and jurors, “Did you ever imagine the existence of the victims while participating in the fraudulent acts?” responded, “At the time, I was doing it as a job, so my senses were numb,” among other statements. This overlaps in many ways with the words of other members of the special fraud group, reflecting the sophistication of the organization built by defendant Watanabe.

From around the time they purchased the abandoned hotel, this tendency became even stronger. While the criminal organization’s foundation was solidifying, the executives faced a problem: “the collectors of (fraud proceeds) would abscond with the cash.” In the fall of 2019, defendant Fujita, also a friend of Watanabe, joined the organization as a recruiter and worked to resolve this issue. Defendant Kojima testified, “After Fujita joined, the incidents of absconding drastically decreased. The existence of the ‘Contact Unit’ that Fujita independently established played a major role.”

According to defendant Kojima, the “Contact Unit” was organized with members residing in Japan whom Fujita had interviewed. The members filmed the torture of absconding offenders and showed the footage to applicants to instill fear and prevent theft. Kojima also viewed the videos, which depicted the following:

“They showed things like stabbing the body with staples to make them reveal the location of money, forcing them to brush their anus with a toothbrush, and compelling men to have sexual intercourse with each other.”

This testimony aligns with accounts from other runners in the special fraud scheme and interviews the author conducted with other members, and it was reportedly effective even against people attempting to flee from the Philippines. The violence of the “Contact Unit” acted as a deterrent, drastically reducing absconding and solidifying the organization’s operations. Around this time, Watanabe, who was spending lavishly at casinos daily, began to place greater trust in Fujita.

At the trial, defendant Kojima also stated, “I am indebted to Watanabe for taking over my debts. In a way, I was a believer in the ‘Watanabe cult.’” At the same time, references to defendants Imamura and Fujita occasionally revealed negative emotions. This certainly suggested the complex human relationships within the group and some of the organizational entanglements.

In the second part, the content includes Kojima’s discussion of the personalities of the three executives and the testimony of another executive who appeared as a witness for the prosecution.

[Read Part 2] Plans to kill other executives. The complex human relationships within the Luffy Group revealed at the trial of the executives.