Japanese police arrest 12 men deported from Cambodia over phone scams

MITO — Japanese police arrested 12 men on Monday upon their return from Cambodia for allegedly operating phone scams, following claims from some that they were victims of forced labor in the Southeast Asian nation.

The 12 men were working at a casino in Cambodia's Svay Rieng province, where local police conducted a search following reports of abusive labor practices. The case came to light after some of the men sought assistance from the Japanese embassy in Phnom Penh.

The men had been in protective custody with Cambodian police since August before being flown back to Japan. They arrived at Haneda and Narita airports on Monday morning.

According to Japanese police, the 12 men were arrested for allegedly swindling a woman in her 40s from Toyama Prefecture out of around 2 million yen in August by posing as police officers over the phone.

A joint investigative team comprising prefectural police from Miyagi, Ibaraki, Toyama, and Nara believes the suspects, the youngest of whom is in his teens, applied for jobs in Cambodia after seeing false social media posts advertising "high-paying, easy work," but they appear to have ended up involved in making scam calls.

There has been a series of cases involving Japanese scam groups using locations in Southeast Asian countries as hideouts. In November last year, Cambodian authorities deported 25 Japanese men for allegedly operating a phone scam ring in Phnom Penh.

© KYODO