The father of TV "talent" and model Rola, 23, has been put on an international wanted list for allegedly defrauding Japan's national health insurance system.
According to a warrant issued by the Tokyo Metropolitan Police, Jurip Al-Asa, 53, who is from Bangladesh, conspired with another Bangladeshi to defraud the health insurance system out of 875,000 yen in payment for an operation he supposedly had overseas.
Sankei Shimbun quoted police sources as saying that the accomplice in December of 2009 submitted a forged medical certificate stating that he had undergone an operation overseas and asking for reimbursement of 70% of the cost of the operation. The accomplice was arrested last year and Jurip fled Japan, police said.
According to Sankei, authorities believe that Jurip headed a gang of Bangladeshis who carried out the same scam a number of times, netting more than 10 million yen in insurance payments.
Rola on Tuesday issued a short statement through her agency, saying she was shocked at the news, but had no further comment. Her agency did not say if she will continue with her TV appearances this week as scheduled.
© Japan Today
31 Comments
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warewarenihonjin
Shameful! If this will mean Rola will vanish off TV, it is a good thing though. I don't like her squeaking style.
lucabrasi
Got to feel sorry for her, though I can't stand her idiot TV persona. Surely she can't be like that in real life?
dcog9065
Poor girl, nothing to do with her yet she'll probably bear some consequences.. She's definitely one of the better looking girls on TV atm.
sveinnyves
I think shes like Mr. Bean, looking outward silly but actually smart. Her replies are always funny and refreshing, a different take to the stressful, serious daily japanese life, thats why shes in the variety segment and not some heavy serious programs.
brknarm
I always thought her name was Lola or Lora/Laura...
Get Real
I wonder what gesture she made on hearing the news.
Nessie
She's going to rola over on her dad.
TSRnow
Same here. Her facebook says Rola, so it must be right.
UsagitoSaru
I dislike seeing her on tv all the time and she acts stupid and childishly. I do feel bad that she will get caught up in her dads wrong doings though but at the same time would like to see less of her on tv and on packaging..her childish actions are not cute in any way.
naturalboke
She shouldn't held accountable for another person's actions even if they were her fathers as long as she was never aware of what he was up to. For 23 I think she does remarkably well on TV, some people may not like her TV persona but she is a great vessel for one line puns that often help to diffuse sometimes awkward moments on TV. She seems to be quite a talented cook to boot.
Wakarimasen
Didn't know she was part Bangladeshi - doesn't look it. she is a combination of a bit sassy but chooooo annoying.
bgaudry
hi hi hi, hai ok!
Amidalism
If her dad was so short on cash you would figure he could just ask her for some as I'm sure she's rolling in it.
nikku510
I knew all the haters with the ローラ bashing comments would Come out of their caves. This story is about her father and his crime. S Rola is a comedic genius whether you guys like her or not.
JeffLee
This scam was one of a series of scams, allegedly, by a gang her father headed. That would make him a serious criminal, when you think about it. So I wonder if he and other the Bangladeshis will get deported after serving their prison sentences.
Mirai Hayashi
Same here...I was thinking "who the hell is Rola?" Japenglish FTW!
lucabrasi
There's no "l" or "r" in Japanese so "Rola" and "Lora" are essentially the same.
CrazyJoe
The parents should be held responsible for their children's scandal (damage to reputation) but the children should not be held responsible for their parent's scandal.
Pukey2
wakarimasen:
Don't blame you for not knowing, what with that bleached hair and colored contact lenses. Another one with an Asian inferiority complex.
Lucabrasi:
わかんない
brknarm:
わかんない。
Ian Duncan
Rola is a comedic genius whether you guys like her or not
Nikku - Now that is funny.
Fadamor
There's no "r" in Japanese?! Seriously?! Then I've been pronouncing ら、り、れ、る、and ろ wrong all this time!!!
Mirai Hayashi
Well, Rola is of Bangladeshi and Russian decent. The name "Rola" is apparently an Arabic girl's name. So, its not an Japanitized version of the name Laura or Lora, unless her mom knew none of this and name here "Rola", with the intention of really naming her Laura or Lora.
Personally, I would have gone with the name written in romaji instead of Katagana. It would give her a more exotic appeal.
And, to comment on your comment, although they are pronounced the same in Japanese because of the low resolution phonetics, Rola and Lora are NOT the same name. One is a western European/ American name and the other is a Middle Eastern name.
LFRAgain
I always felt the Hepburn Romanization of the Japanese syllabary did ra. ri, ru, re, and ro (JT won't display whatever Japanese encoding I've enabled for this browser) a disservice by essentially guaranteeing anyone unfamiliar with the Japanese language would read words like "Rola" as "Roll-ah." It's not accurate. The initial sound in ra, ri, ru, re and ro is a lot closer to la, li, lu, le, and lo, or rather the English letter "L" than it is to "R," by a longshot. Which is probably why Westerners say Ramen the way they do to this day. It's not "rah-men". It's "lah-men." At least in Japanese.
In any case, dad's crimes are most certainly not Lola's fault, nor should they be interpeted as valid justification for the implosion of her chosen career simply because she isn't one's particular cup of coffee. For every one of those here who dislikes her, there are 20 more in Japan who do. And that's what matters. She's not on the airwaves to entertain highbrow expats.
Lowly
Rola is too squeaky and her fake cute on purpose schtick is grating. imo. But I wouldn't want her to reap people's distrust from a bad seed her Daddy sewed.
Of course that has nothing to do with whether her Dad has actually done a dirty deed or not.
Moderator
Readers, forget about how she spells her name. It's not relevant.
Scrote
I didn't know you could claim back money spent on overseas medical treatment. No wonder the country is going bankrupt. Tell those people to get travel medical insurance, or pay the bill themselves.
tmarie
Nothing off topic.
This is to inform you that your message on JapanToday.com has been removed for the following reason:Off Topic "Frankly I can't stand the woman but this has nothing to do with her. I don't understand why women in Japan often become part of the issue yet when the men are caught with other women, are busted for illegal things, very little happens to them. That being said, a mere 875,000 gets him on a list? Look at TEPCO and all the other Japanese companies ripping off the public! Why nothing there? Is it because he's a foreigner??"
nikku510
Ian Duncan,
She can read every furi that the other members of her shows throw at her and boke perfectly.
It is not as easy as it looks. Most people cannot pull that off.
Magnus Roe
I really didn't like her either at first, but I've warmed up to her. I find her antics mildly annoying, but not any worse than all the other "talents", and she's certainly less serious about it. It's sad that this will hurt her career, but it probably will, Japanese agencies are notorious for dropping people who get in the grey zone, regardless of popularity or guilt.
tmarie
Japanese agencies are notorious for dropping people who get in the grey zone, regardless of popularity or guilt.
CHange that the "people" to "female" and I would agree with you. The men here get away with plenty whereas the women aren't even allowed to get away with being related to folks who do something wrong.