A Japanese man accused of helping perpetrate a $90 million investment scam will be deported after four years on the run, Indonesian authorities said on Tuesday.
Nyoman Gede Surya Mataram, director of the provincial office of the Ministry of Law and Human Rights, said Yusuke Yamazaki, 43, was arrested on Jan. 31 while trying to enter Malaysia on a small wooden boat on Bulan island in Riau Islands province. . He was expected to be deported by the end of the day.
Mataram said the ship was also carrying four undocumented Indonesian migrant workers and two crew members. The others were detained by police for further investigation, while Yamazaki was handed over to the Batam Immigration Department on February 2.
Mataram said Yamazaki initially gave a false name and was detained on suspicion of visa violations, but police later determined he was an international fugitive.
He was an executive at Nishiyama Farm, an Okayama-based company that operated farm tours across Japan and collapsed in February 2019 amid accusations of fraud. Five people associated with Nishiyama Farm were arrested in October 2021 on suspicion of fraud worth approximately US$90 million and were later convicted. However, according to Japanese media reports, Yamazaki left Japan for Hong Kong in February 2020.
Aichi Prefecture police listed Yamasaki as a fugitive on Interpol’s Blue Notice in 2022. Mataram said Yamazaki is believed to have arrived in Indonesia from Turkey in April of the following year.
“The Japanese government will take further legal proceedings after he is handed over to Japan,” Samuel Toba, director of the Batam Immigration Office, told a news conference.
He added that Japanese police have sent investigators to Indonesia to assist in the deportation of Yamazaki, who will fly to Jakarta at noon and then fly to Tokyo on a Japan Airlines night flight.
In a lawsuit filed against Yamazaki and others by 41 investors in Tokyo and four other prefectures, the Nagoya District Court in February 2022 ordered the defendants to pay about $2.2 million.
