A Chinese national, Wen Zhuolin, was apprehended Tuesday in connection with a record-breaking social media investment scam that defrauded a 71-year-old Japanese woman out of 809 million yen ($5.3 million), according to police reports.
The victim, a business executive from Ibaraki Prefecture, was misled by an impersonation scheme on the popular Line messaging app. The scammers pretended to be Takuro Morinaga, a well-known Japanese economic analyst, in order to gain her trust. Wen, a self-claimed company executive residing in Tokyo’s Sumida Ward, is alleged to have organized cash collection for the scheme.
The woman first saw the fraudulent investment advertisement on Instagram in October 2023. She was then persuaded by someone posing as Morinaga’s assistant to invest, leading her to transfer an initial 10 million yen in November. As the scammers manipulated the app to show fictional profits, she continued investing, ultimately handing over 799 million yen through 47 transactions.
Authorities allege that Wen and unidentified associates collaborated from October 24, 2023, to April 12, 2024, using fake investment promises and arranging cash couriers. Police reports detail that on two occasions, Dec. 11 and Dec. 18, couriers collected a total of 83 million yen from the woman at a train station in southern Ibaraki Prefecture.
