Popular comedian and robbery… Shocking Explanation and Convictions” of “Rufy Group” Executives that Shook the Whole Country
I was the lowest…”
The “Rufy Group” committed a series of robberies over a wide area from 2010 to 2011. Seiya Fujita, 41, one of the executives of the Rufy Group, will be sentenced today.
In addition to the special fraud, defendant Fujita had been indicted in seven robbery cases, including a fatal robbery in Komae City, Tokyo, in which a 90-year-old woman died at the time. Among the indictments, he denies some of the charges, including that he flew instructions to the executioner to assault and to take the murder weapon. The main issue at trial was whether aiding and abetting could be charged with robbery.
The trial of the second executive since Tomonobu Kojima, 48, also drew attention because the remaining executives, including Yuki Watanabe, 41, and Mato Imamura, 41, who called himself “Luffy,” remained silent about the robbery.
However, Fujita’s trial, which began on January 26, did not provide a clear account of the robberies or the relationships among the group members. The judge asked Fujita about the consistency of his testimony, and the prosecutor asked, “You signed the statement, didn’t you? The judge asked Fujita about the consistency of his testimony, and the prosecutor asked him again, “You signed the statement, didn’t you?
I was the lowest of the four, so I had no freedom. So I had no freedom. I was afraid and had no choice but to follow the instructions.
Fujita, who took the witness stand, often made such appeals. While the prosecution sought life imprisonment, the defense is seeking a fixed term sentence on the grounds that “Fujita was in a subordinate position.
What did the leader of the criminal group that shook the whole of Japan say in court? In the first part of this report, we will write about Fujita’s “résumé” to date and his life in the Bicutan detention center in the Philippines.
Popular comedian and robber…
In June 1984, defendant Fujita was born in Hakodate, Hokkaido. He attended public elementary and junior high schools in Nanae Town adjacent to Hakodate, and then went on to a public high school in Hakodate. During his three years of schooling, he obtained several certifications, including one as a care worker, and after graduation he worked for a local real estate company.
Real estate is lucrative.
At the time, Fujita felt that real estate was lucrative. After retiring, he moved to Kyoto for two and a half years and worked in the mizu-shobai world. Later, at the age of 27, he returned to Sapporo to start his own real estate company. At that time, a friend introduced him to defendant Watanabe, who later became the head of a special fraud group and was also involved in a robbery.
I want to start a real estate company. I need money, so if you have any good jobs, please introduce me.
After consulting with Mr. Fujita, Mr. Watanabe recommended that he work at a chat lady’s office that he ran. A chat lady is a service that allows men to enjoy chatting online.
Some time later, Watanabe bought the dormant company and started various businesses in collaboration with Fujita. In addition to managing chat ladies, the two developed a wide range of businesses together, including real estate, operating a call center, acquiring land rights to a hot spring, selling water, and operating five or six bars.
However, Fujita’s downfall began in August ’12 when he and the defendant Watanabe robbed the home of a host in Sapporo and stole a safe containing 10 million yen in cash. For this incident, Watanabe was sentenced to 1 year and 2 months in prison, and Fujita, who was on probation for another injury case, was sentenced to 3 years and 6 months. Fujita told the court about the incident.
The boss’s (Watanabe’s) ex-girlfriend was beaten up by the host and robbed of money and goods. The boss was consulted and said, ‘I’ll get your money back.’ The boss, myself, a man who worked at the bar and is now a popular comedian (note: he also revealed his group name and stage name in his statement), and another person went into his house with the intention of discussing the matter.
He was not at home, so then we said, ‘Let’s take it out and sell it. After that, the boss put the blame on me, saying, ‘He is the main culprit. I wasn’t convinced, but he said, ‘I’ll make some money so you won’t be in trouble when you get out,’ and I broke down.”
Upon his release from prison at the age of 33, he began working as a field laborer for a demolition company owned by a friend. While working there, he also worked hard at forex trading and earned a good profit.
However, while working on site, he damaged the cruciate ligament in his knee. He suffered a serious injury that would take a year to heal. He was feeling depressed because of the injury, and in July 2007, he “went to the Philippines, where English was spoken, for a change of pace,” according to the defendant’s story.
Desperate life in a prison camp
Mr. Fujita claimed that the purpose of his visit to the Philippines was only a “trip. He testified that after traveling to the Philippines, they “happened” to run into each other in a casino where Watanabe was mainly staying, and that he was lured into working as a recruiter for a scam. He also recalled that “the boss I met at the casino was a different person from the one I met in Sapporo. According to his own claim, Fujita officially joined Watanabe’s organization as a recruiter in September ’19.
Fujita quickly achieved significant results at the group, and within a few months he was considered an executive. However, he had a low recruiter’s position in the organization, and his own position was “very different from Watanabe’s.” Regarding the money obtained through the special fraud, he also claimed that 90 million yen out of the 120 million yen “salary” that was to be paid had not been paid.
In February 2009, Fujita was arrested for “making up a story. In April, he was taken to the Bicutan detention center, the scene of a widespread robbery. In April, he was sent to Bicutan, the site of a widespread robbery, where he was reunited with Imamura, Watanabe, and Kojima, and the four of them began to conspire in the robbery.
It was a desperate place beyond imagination.”
This is how Fujita described the Bicutan camp. In the camp, he said, he struggled to survive day by day. Disgusted, Fujita planned to escape to Spain through a friend. To do so, he needed a large bribe to pay to the camp officials and escape funds.
However, after his incarceration, it had become difficult to obtain funds through special fraud as before. In order to earn money for his escape, he tried the methamphetamine business and other schemes, but failed at every attempt. Fujita and Watanabe, who were having a hard time obtaining funds, noticed Imamura, who was living a good life in the prison.
In May 2010, a wristwatch worth 69 million yen was stolen from a jewelry store in Kyoto City. Imamura was involved in this case as an instructor.
Fujita was convinced that he had to recruit Imamura into his gang and take away his stake in the business by soaking him in methamphetamine.
From this point on, Fujita became involved in a wide range of robberies.
In the second part of this article, we will summarize Fujita’s testimony regarding the wide-area robbery that shook the whole country.
Interview and text by： Shimei Kurita PHOTO： Shinji Hasuo