Police probe attempt to blackmail thousands of Japanese teachers

Police in Japan have launched an investigation into extortion letters sent to at least 2,529 teachers at elementary and junior high schools across the country.

The neatly printed letters, shown by national broadcaster NHK, purport to be in retaliation for abuse of a child in the teacher’s care and damage to their reputations.

The letter demands that Y3 million (HK$192,024) be sent in cash in a envelope marked “business papers” or “documents” to an address in Bangkok.

An expert on crime in Japan said the nation’s crooks are having to be more inventive in their scams after authorities here launched a crackdown on traditional extortion schemes that targeted shops and small companies.

“This is a very clever scheme,” said Jake Adelstein, author of Tokyo Vice: An American Reporter On The Police Beat In Japan.

“Teachers are relatively easy to target because their names are likely to appear in documents that are readily available to the public and they’re in a position of trust,” he said.

“The criminals will send out thousands of these letters and they only need a couple of teachers with something to hide to pay up and they’ve made a profit.