[Full Text Published] Total Losses: 6 Billion Yen! The Women of the “Luffy Group,” the Unprecedented Criminal Organization Behind “Black-Market Part-Time Jobs”

The number of women involved was just under 20.

A series of wide-area robbery cases committed by the “Rufi Group” between 2022 and 2023. Even now, more than four years after the incidents occurred, the fraud and robberies they pioneered using “shadow jobs” continue unabated.

The specialized fraud organization led by Yuki Watanabe (38; ages are listed as of the time of arrest; references to “defendant” or “inmate” are omitted), who is considered the predecessor of the Ruffy Group, is believed to have had up to approximately 200 members, including female fraudsters.

Tomonobu Kojima (45), one of the Luffy Group’s top executives, stated the following to this reporter in a visiting room at Tokyo Detention Center:

“Women are better suited for fraud. Since the targets of our scam calls are mostly elderly men, they tend to let their guard down more easily when dealing with young women.In our group, there are virtually no ‘callers’ (those who make the scam calls to victims) whose monthly sales—that is, proceeds from the scams—fall below 10 million yen. When we hit a ‘jackpot’—someone who seemed likely to fall for the scam—it wasn’t uncommon for us to deliberately have a ‘female caller’ take over the call.”

She then continued:

“Almost all of the female callers in the organization had boyfriends. The executives used their money to take Filipino women as mistresses or girlfriends. However, the rank-and-file men had neither money nor the ability to speak English, so they would try to approach the women within the organization. Just for being women, they were fawned over.”

There were just under 20 women who belonged to the Luffy Group.How did “Luffy’s women” become fraudsters and swindle such huge sums of money? Based on the contents of my new book, *Luffy in the Cage: The People Who Created the Dark Side of Part-Time Work* (Kodansha), published on June 24, I trace the life stories of these women.

From art students to daughters of wealthy families to sex workers, the “previous occupations” of these women varied widely.Some applied thinking it was a resort job, while others—unable to pay off their tab at a host club—were sold to the organization for as little as 500,000 yen. What they all have in common is that they joined these illegal jobs either to get money for entertainment or to pay off debts.

Female “kake-ko” were highly valued within the Ruffy Group. As Kojima explains, one reason was that they were effective at making sales calls to the elderly. The second reason was that the boss, Watanabe, had a penchant for women.Watanabe, who had multiple mistresses in the Philippines—the setting of the incident—was not satisfied with that alone and devised the “Harem Plan” to specifically recruit female callers. Although the plan ultimately fell through, Watanabe skillfully manipulated the women in the organization throughout the process.

A Pawn to Shield the Executives

For example, Chiaki Shibata (29), who was arrested in November 2019 on suspicion of theft in connection with a series of sophisticated fraud cases, was also Watanabe’s mistress. On seven separate occasions, she packed cash—totaling approximately 300 million yen—that had been defrauded in Japan into suitcases and transported it to the Philippines.Her romantic feelings for her boss were the driving force behind her decision to take on this dangerous work.

I have conducted repeated interviews with Risa Yamada (26), who defrauded the organization of approximately 600 million yen and called herself the “Legendary Money Runner.” Yamada, who transitioned from working as a sex worker to becoming a money runner, was also deeply infatuated with Watanabe and the other executives.Yamada confided to this reporter during a meeting, “I also wanted to protect the executives.” Among the more than 400 letters Yamada wrote, there was a passage that read:

“The executives treated me very kindly, and I received a lot of praise for meeting my quotas. I had never had that kind of experience in my life, so I was truly happy. I thought Mr. Watanabe was the number one boss in Japan.”

From a third-party perspective, it was clear that Yamada was nothing more than a disposable pawn to the executives. Even so, she viewed them as “comrades.”

Exploiting her desire for approval, the executives even ordered Yamada to spy on rival organizations. In fact, Yamada infiltrated “JP Dragon” (a Japanese criminal organization based in the Philippines) that was at odds with Watanabe’s group and engaged in a physical relationship with one of its executives. It is said that she extracted information through intimate conversations and passed it back to her organization.Yamada continued to work tirelessly for the “boss” she idolized.

Two Beautiful Con Artists

Among the women in the organization, two stood out in particular for their looks. Haruna Terashima (27) was likened online to “Nami” from the popular manga *One Piece* due to her status as one of “Luffy’s crew’s beauties.”Then there is Hitomi Kumai (25), who led a glamorous life, attending a prestigious art university and competing in beauty pageants.

Terashima, a native of Nagano Prefecture, was raised in a family of educators—her grandfather and father were both teachers. She enrolled in a prestigious private high school but dropped out.After working at hostess clubs in Tokyo, she joined Watanabe’s organization. She was assigned to a team known as “ST Box” and immediately received special treatment, becoming affectionately known as “Princess.” Her “sales” from fraud were substantial, and she was reportedly the envy of those around her.

Kumai’s grandfather was a member of the Kochi Prefectural Assembly, and she was raised in a family renowned as one of the leading families in her local community of Mitaka, Tokyo. After failing the university entrance exams twice, she enrolled at Tama Art University but dropped out. Through a recruiter for underground part-time jobs, she traveled to the Philippines to work as a “kake-ko” (a woman who arranges illegal loans).

Like Yamada, one of her strengths was that she was among the top performers in the organization in terms of sales. While many “kake-ko” operated under the mindset that “it’s good enough to land one case a month,” Kumai closed multiple deals each month and “even pulled off scams in the 50 million yen range” (Kojima). And, as expected, she was treated with special favor because of her beauty.Kumai became romantically involved with Kaori Fujita (24)—who would later become the “box leader” (leader of each team) of the “A Box” team—and became pregnant while in the Philippines. After being forcibly deported to Japan, she gave birth to her child in a detention center.

Yamada’s remarks suggest that complex emotions likely swirled among the women within the group.

“Kumai was always playing the ‘female card’ and was fawned over by everyone around her. She’d cry at the slightest provocation and rely on men. The only reason she was able to continue as a ‘kake-ko’ was because Box A was lax. It also seemed like she had skillfully ingratiated herself with the box leader, who had money.”

The reality is that couples formed one after another within the organization, and each engaged in repeated sexual relationships. Yamada sarcastically described the tangled web of male and female lust as “like a reality dating show for a fraud ring.”Furthermore, there was a moment when she revealed to the author, with a hint of pride, “I brought in more money than Kumai or Terashima, and I’ve had sex with more men in the organization than they have.” However, Kojima revealed, “Yamada was the only one who never managed to get a boyfriend.”

Yamada was indicted on charges including theft in connection with a sophisticated fraud case and received a prison sentence of four years and two months. She is currently serving her sentence and is scheduled for release next fall.Among “Luffy’s Women,” some have already been released from prison and reintegrated into society. Most of these female fraudsters, who shook the nation, are expected to complete their sentences next year.

From the July 17 & 24, 2026, combined issue of *FRIDAY*