Seven suspects, including 56-year-old Eiichi Koyanagi from Kawasaki, have been arrested by Tokyo police for allegedly causing intentional traffic accidents to defraud insurance companies. Koyanagi reportedly admitted to knowingly fabricating traffic accidents for insurance payouts but claimed he did not receive any money himself. The other six suspects, aged between 24 and 41 and from regions such as Saitama and Chiba, have acknowledged their involvement in the fraud. Investigations reveal that since January 2023, Koyanagi and his accomplices are suspected of engaging in at least eight planned accidents across several prefectures, including Saitama, Chiba, Kanagawa, Nagano, and Osaka, attempting to defraud around 62 million yen in total. The police investigation indicates that on May 9, the suspects conspired to fake a traffic accident in a restaurant parking lot in Yokohama, claiming to be victims of an unforeseen incident to receive approximately 6.67 million yen. In another incident on February 16, four suspects attempted a similar scheme in Ichikawa City, Chiba, though the insurance company refused to pay out due to suspicions.

The police believe Koyanagi had previously been involved in similar incidents, having faced arrest twice for related fraud. His recruitment of accomplices began under the guise of a promising money-making opportunity, as informed by the police investigation sparked by concerns from insurance companies about a group suspected of orchestrating multiple intentional accidents over the past year.