Japanese man arrested in Indonesia over Covid relief fraud, estimated at US$7.3 million
- Mitsuhiro Taniguchi was wanted by police over pandemic subsidy fraud with an estimated value of US$7.3 million, and left Japan for Indonesia in October 2020
- He was found in a fish trader’s house on Sumatra island where he had been staying after telling the owner he wanted to invest in fisheries
Authorities on the southern tip of Indonesia’s Sumatra island arrested a Japanese fugitive accused of fraud in Japan in connection with the receipt of a massive amount of Covid-19 subsidies for small businesses in distress, police said Wednesday.
Mitsuhiro Taniguchi, 47, was arrested late on Tuesday night at a house owned by a fish trader in the village of Kalirejo in Central Lampung district, by immigration officers and backed by local police, said National Police spokesperson Dedi Prasetyo.
“He told the house owner that he wants to invest in fisheries in the area which is well received by him,” Prasetyo said, adding that he’d been staying at the house for about two weeks before authorities detected his whereabouts.
Taniguchi was wanted by Japanese police over pandemic subsidy fraud and left Japan for Indonesia in October 2020, Prasetyo said.
Taniguchi and a group of acquaintances allegedly submitted some 1,700 false applications for Covid-19 relief funds. The Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department believes they received subsidies in more than 960 of those applications for an estimated 960 million yen (US$7.3 million).
He said there was no red notice related to Taniguchi’s case, but Indonesian police have taken proactive steps by coordinating with immigration to detect his presence since entering Indonesian territory.