Indonesian police arrest Japanese man wanted for COVID subsidy fraud

47????? He looks at least 10 years older, and those surf shorts just don't match with the prison shirt. Slap on an extra 10 years for the fashion felony!

Gaijin boardies gave him away.

Glad they finally got this guy.

Good he's been caught. Now the whole family operation has been arrersted. I see he's gone native.

47????? He looks at least 10 years older,

That's why women here use umbrellas on sunny days.

Scumbag, and it's a family affair. Defrauding those who really need aid and enduring the COVID hardships, while this idiot lives in a plush gated house. Let him serve time in Indonesia....sure that will be enjoyable for him.

Great cooperation between two countries. Well done.

He's toast if he lives, Indonesia has very severe laws.

It really makes me wonder, what kinds of illegal activity was this guy involved in before Covid? I really doubt a first-time offender would do something like this. Also, it makes me wonder how many Japanese politicians are committing fraud just under the radar. They seem to have a knack for it.

@Btang he will be deported why would Indonesia want to feed and house a Japanese criminal that didn't commit a crime in Indonesia.

Indonesia generally extradites foreign citizens accused of crimes. The only exception is if the foreign citizen is legally married to an Indonesian citizen. They get a free pass and no jail time.

How many seconds of coverage did this get on Japanese TV?

Some very effective cooperation between Japanese and Indonesian police.

KumagaijinToday  09:06 pm JST

It really makes me wonder, what kinds of illegal activity was this guy involved in before Covid? I really doubt a first-time offender would do something like this.

Yes, an astute observation.

Also, it makes me wonder how many Japanese politicians are committing fraud just under the radar. They seem to have a knack for it.

Why does it make you wonder about politicians? Nothing to do with Japanese politicians, totally off-topic, or did you just want to get in a little Japan bashing while you had an opportunity? Which politicians are "committing fraud just under the radar"?; names please, make your accusations public if you really believe in them.

He must be wishing he had chosen another country instead of Indonesia! It’s difficult to blend in Indonesia for any Japanese especially in the rural areas. Also with all his money which must had been burning holes in his pockets!!! Either way, the money that he defrauded the Government would just be sitting in the surplus without being used like most of the money which was set aside for financial assistance during the last two budgets but still all that has not been used. The reason being that the Government makes the criteria so difficult for usual suffering citizens to apply for these aids while make it easier for frauds like the one above to claim these assistance!

How do you qualify for Covid subsidies? There should be some sort of verification before money is released.

This crime family sounds like the stuff of a Netflix series, a Japanese "Ozark"?

Taniguchi and a group of acquaintances allegedly submitted some 1,700 false applications...  they received subsidies in more than 960 of those applications for an estimated 960 million yen 

That is a whopping 56.4% margin of error on the approver's part.. and that was just based on the case at point.