<figure id="attachment_257987" class="wp-caption alignnone" style="width: 1594px;" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-257987"><a href="#" data-ident_hash="f6e094c9"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/fridaydigital/image/private/t_article_image/wpmedia/2022/08/DSC_2469.jpg" alt=""></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-257987" class="wp-caption-text">Kimoto leaves his home and heads to a friend&#8217;s house, cigarette in hand. He says that he has become more prosperous since he started investing (last November).</figcaption></figure>
 He said, &#8220;You guys don&#8217;t know what you&#8217;re doing, so leave your money with me. I won&#8217;t let you lose money.
Takehiro Kimoto, 51, of the comedy duo &#8220;TKO,&#8221; said this was his signature line when he invited him to invest. Kimoto left Shochiku Entertainments on July 23 to take responsibility for the 700 million yen he had collected from fellow comedians and industry insiders. A junior comedian who was actually solicited by Kimoto confided, &#8220;I refused his invitation.
<div data-friday-ad-slot="AD_inArticle"></div>
 A junior comedian who was actually solicited by Kimoto confided, &#8220;I refused the invitation, but a comedian I knew had deposited about 500,000 yen with Mr. Kimoto. However, although it was good that he deposited the money, he did not seem to have been informed of how it would be invested.
It was reported that Takashi Yoshimura (42) of &#8220;Heisei Nobushi Kobushi&#8221; had deposited as much as 50 million yen with Kimoto. Other names mentioned included Kukki of &#8220;Wild Bombs&#8221;! According to A, Kimoto&#8217;s solicitation gradually became more and more intense.
 According to A, Kimoto&#8217;s solicitation became more and more intense. &#8220;When he solicited me, I told him I didn&#8217;t have any money, but he wouldn&#8217;t back down. When I replied, &#8216;I can&#8217;t afford 300,000 yen,&#8217; he got angry and said, &#8216;What the hell? When he saw that I had no intention of investing, he would ask, &#8216;Who has a part-time job? And, &#8220;Who has the money? He asked me where else he could find me. The worst part was when he called me in to give me guidance on my art, and then talked endlessly about investments until the morning.
<div data-friday-ad-slot="AD_inArticle"></div>
The comedians Kimoto solicited &#8220;had one thing in common,&#8221; according to A. &#8220;Their main target was the tenants of Shochiku.
 The main targets were mid-level comedians who had been with Shochiku for 10 years or more. Even if they were young, they never went below the fifth year of their performing career. The amount of investment per person was approximately 300,000 to 500,000 yen, so it was impossible for a novice comedian to prepare the money. Since the Shochiku comedians were probably not making much money, the idea was to gather a large number of them. Naturally, the comedians without money were reluctant to give it, but Mr. Kimoto said that in the worst case scenario, he would make up the difference. He would say, &#8216;If the investment performance goes negative, I&#8217;ll pay out all the money.
It is no secret that one of Kimoto&#8217;s investments was in games using NFTs (non-replaceable tokens), but he also had other investments in &#8220;XRP ( He was also obsessed with making money with virtual currencies such as &#8220;XRP (Ripple)&#8221; and &#8220;MetaRim (Rim).
 He was also corrupt and corrupt in other ways, making money with virtual currencies such as &#8220;XRP&#8221; and &#8220;MetaRim,&#8221; he said. Many of the comedians were annoyed with Mr. Kimoto because he had begun to recommend such dubious investment stories that they had never heard of,&#8221; said a mid-level comedian.
According to the stories of the people involved, Kimoto first became involved in investing about 10 years ago. According to comedian B, who knew Kimoto at the time, there was a man by Kimoto&#8217;s side who claimed to be an &#8220;advisor&#8221; and was actually introduced to him.
 According to comedian B, who knew him at the time, there was a man by Kimoto&#8217;s side who claimed to be an &#8220;advisor&#8221; and actually introduced him to her on one occasion.
Where did the advisor and the 700 million yen disappear to? Attorney Kunitake Kawanishi, an expert on investment scams, analyzes, &#8220;There are similarities with the ponzi schemes that have been popular for the past several years.
 Mr. Kimoto may have been used as a billboard to collect money. At first, the money is given to the collector as a &#8220;dividend. The money is actually invested, and since it appears to be profitable, the collectors put even more effort into solicitation. Then, when a large amount of money has been collected, the person who has been entrusted with the money disappears along with a large sum of money. Since the initial &#8220;dividend&#8221; is paid out in the form of money, it is difficult to make a case as a fraud. It is a troublesome case with a high hurdle to recover the investment.
This is an unprecedented case involving a huge investment involving the entertainment industry. Will the full story ever be revealed?
From the August 12, 2022 issue of FRIDAY

 Nobuyuki Koike

 TKO's Kimoto, who dissolved 700 million yen in money collected from fellow comedians due to investment troubles, left Shochiku Entertainments on July 23. A confession by a junior comedian who was actually solicited by Kimoto revealed that Kimoto was desperate for investors.

Why Did TKO Kimoto Investment Trouble Happen?

Access Ranking