TOKYO (The Straits Times/Asia News Network): In three years, unsuspecting victims in Japan lost more than six billion yen (US$45 million) through phone scams. Then a spate of at least 50 violent robberies hit 14 prefectures across the country.
Some of the smartphones seized from four men suspected of coordinating a string of robberies across Japan had almost no data left inside, indicating attempts to hide evidence linking them with the crimes, according to investigative sources
A man suspected to be behind a string of robberies across Japan that were coordinated from the Philippines also allegedly committed fraud remotely from Thailand, investigative sources said. Police sent Yuki Watanabe, 38, and another apparent senior member of the group, Tomonobu Kojima, 45, to prosecutors Friday after they were…