Money laundering spikes in Japan as global crime moves in

Record number of cases uncovered last year, police report shows

Japanese yen notes are piled atop U.S. dollar bills. Criminal groups may see Japan as an easy place to disguise illicit gains, a police source said. © Reuters

AKINOBU IWASAWA, Nikkei staff writer

July 30, 2019 02:17 JST

TOKYO -- Japanese police have uncovered a record number of money laundering cases, some of which involved international criminal networks using bank accounts in the country, a new report shows.

Incidents of money laundering rose about 40% on the year to 511 in 2018, topping 500 for the first time in data going back to 2000, according to the 2019 police white paper published Monday.