Hiroshima yakuza boss busted for blackmailing sex club

TOKYO (TR) – Hiroshima Prefectural Police on Wednesday arrested two suspects, including one organized crime member, over the alleged extortion of an adult-entertainment club located for the past two years, reports the Chugoku Shimbun (July 10).

Officers took Takashi Okita, 68, the top boss of the Okita-gumi crime syndicate, and mahjong parlor owner Osamu Arata, 52, into custody for collecting 48 million yen from the male manager of a sex shop located in the Yoshijimacho district of Hiroshima’s Naka Ward between May of 2011 and March of this year.

According to police, the suspects referred to the funds as “reception” fees, telling the manager that betrayal in making payments will result in negative consequences.

Okita, who also serves as the vice president of the Kyosei-kai crime syndicate, a subsidiary of the Okita-gumi, denies the allegations, while Arata maintains that he did not make any threats and claims that the payments were for a loan to the club manager that was in arrears.