Nagoya court finds Kodo-kai number-two boss guilty of fraud

TOKYO (TR) – On Tuesday, Teruaki Takeuchi, the number-two boss of the Kodo-kai organized crime group, was found guilty by a court in Nagoya of fraud for concealing his gang ties in order to play golf and handed an 18-month prison sentence, suspended for three years, reports the Sankei Shimbun (Apr. 23).

Presiding judge Hideki Shibata of the Nagoya High Court ruled that Takeuchi, 53, intentionally obscured his name in the log book of the course prior to a playing a round of golf at a course in Nagano Prefecture in 2010. “If the golf course staff recognizes that he is gangster, he’ll be prevented from using the course,” said Shibata.

In April of last year, the Nagoya District Court found Takeuchi innocent on fraud charges related to the round of golf. The gangster was, however, ruled guilty of two counts of credit card fraud for cases dating back to 2005 and 2006 and received a 10-month prison sentence, suspended for three years.

The ruling on Tuesday was as a result of an appeal made to a higher court by both the prosecution and the defense.

In 2011, the president of the Blue chain of sex clubs, Yoshinori Sato, was arrested for assisting Takeuchi in the concealment of his identity at the golf course. Sato received a prison term of two years and six months, which was suspended for four years.

In January, Sato was arrested again for allegedly making threatening phone calls to the home of an investigator from within the Aichi Prefectural Police who targeted the Kodo-kai, which is an affiliate group of the Yamaguchi-gumi.