View Full Version : Tokyo. Osaka 'delivery health' business extorted customers in honban hoodwink. Osaka Prefectural Police last month announced the bust of a so-called "delivery health" out-call service that extorted customers in a two-time payment ruse, reports evening tabloid Nikkan Gendai Feb. Police have apprehended 10 male and female persons connected with service Megumi, including Kenji Kubota, the year-old manager.
Since March of last year, the service is believed to have swindled persons out of The Reader's Digest version of one case went as follows. In August of last year, a female employee of Megumi provided sexual services to a male customer at a hotel in the Nipponbashi area of Chuo Ward that he thought he had paid for in advance. Thereafter, Kubota allegedly attempted to extort the customer out of about 50, yen. The full version of the ruse was actually carried out in two distinct parts, with various employees playing different roles.
Kubota established a web site for Megumi, whose office is located near Nippombashi Station in Chuo. Two other male suspects served as street touts, offering passerby "beautiful ladies. Interested persons were directed to a love hotel and asked to make a payment in advance. Upon his entry to a room, a female employee from Megumi was already waiting inside. After supplying a requested non-coital sexual service, the employee asked if the customer was interested in honban, or full sex, which is prohibited under the Anti-Prostitution Law, at a to-be-negotiated price.
When the session concluded, the employee told the customer that the hotel fee will be complimentary if he completed a survey and handed him a sheet of paper. Among the items in the survey was a question about whether he paid for honban, which he invariably had. Kubota then entered the room, demanding payment of the standard fee for Megumi, which was 58, yen for 90 minutes.
After the customer responded by saying that he already paid, Kubota grabbed the survey and pointed out that the provision of honban is a prohibited act as mentioned on the service's web site. In order to ensure payment was made, Kubota took photocopies of identification cards. A payment reminder that included a threat to inform the victim's place of employment were sent via a social-networking service.
