The vice president of a taxi company in Tokyo has been arrested for allegedly running an illegal gambling ring with his employees, police said Saturday.
The suspect, Kazuhiro Kimura, 56, is accused of renting an apartment near the company offices in Setagaya Ward and holding a mahjong game for eight employees on Nov 9, TV Asahi repoted.
Police say the group, which went under the name "Mahjong Lovers Group," consisted of around 30 members in total. According to police, players who did not have cash were permitted to stake their future wages, TV Asahi reported.
During police questioning, Kimura was quoted as saying the gambling benefitted everyone because he put the winnings toward a company vacation.
© Japan Today
12 Comments
Login to comment
seicheprey
Why is this a news story? What are Tokyo's regulations regarding gambling? Can the man prove that he was putting the winnings towards a company vacation? Definitely need more information to justify this as a story.
CrazyJoe
A big loser must have squealed.
Bartholomew Harte
How can this rate as news? People do this all over the world-Now if this was a Sports betting ring raking in the big yen,that would be worth the read.
Elbuda Mexicano
OMG!! Not the Mahjong Lovers Group! Run! Run for the hills!! Maybe only the tip of the Japanese iceberg??
anglootaku
Haven't they heard of online gambling :P
Hide Suzuki
Ridiculous, I play poker, Mahjong or betting on sports with friends all the time. The police must be bored as hell if they go after people like this
Tamesu San
@ Elbuda MexicanoNov. "OMG!! Not the Mahjong Lovers Group! Run! Run for the hills!! Maybe only the tip of the Japanese iceberg??" I agree...this occurs very very often.....Last time I think it was in GINZA....continual repeat of this history....
ubikwit
a 'company store'....story
Utrack
Do not taxi drivers have wait periods between customers, Unless there out there hustling to get a fare I would assume they would be chillin with their coworkers.
billyshears
If it had been a group of politicians (or JT executives...how on earth did they escape those proposed tax increases without a huge public outcry?), the police would never have considered going after them. This is a waste of taxpayers' money on a meaningless pursuit of a few innocent taxi drivers.
nath
Guys read the article.
Gambling for money in japan is illegal, mah-jong parlours usually got a back-room.
They staff could borrow against upcoming salaries in order to keep gambling in a game that was run by their BOSS.
Still no Red flags raised yet?
cactusJack
This is more like a company football pool. Hardly news.