OSAKA, Japan — Osaka police have arrested two men, including judicial scrivener Ryohei Matsumoto, 34, on suspicion of fraudulently registering real estate ownership without the legitimate owner’s consent.
Authorities say the other suspect is the former leader of a now-defunct electrical engineering company in Mie Prefecture. Police believe both men were part of a jimenshi real estate scam group.
The suspects allegedly submitted forged documents, including a fake name seal registration certificate, to the Osaka Legal Affairs Bureau in January last year. The documents falsely claimed that an 800-square-meter plot of land and two houses in Kita Ward, Osaka, were sold to the electrical engineering company, resulting in unauthorized ownership registration.
The real estate owner filed a civil lawsuit with the Osaka District Court in March, and the court ruled in his favor in June. Investigators say Matsumoto also submitted a document claiming an identity check had been conducted, but the check was allegedly performed using an impersonator with a forged driver’s license, not the legitimate property owner.
Matsumoto has been registered with the Osaka Judicial Scriveners Association since May 2018. He previously received a four-month suspension last August for failing to process an inheritance registration application, among other misconduct.
In Japan, judicial scriveners are responsible for real estate registrations, inheritance matters, and corporate establishment on behalf of clients. Some experts say stricter identity verification measures are needed, including on-site checks of property owners, due to current procedural loopholes.
