Japan police arrest illegal online gambler in massive 28 billion yen bust

A man has been arrested over illegal online gambling, with the case being described as the largest in Japan. Most forms of gambling are illegal in the country, excluding a select few such as horse racing, pachinko, and pachislots, with the arrested individual wagering 90 million yen ($625,000).

However, that’s the initial figure. Law enforcement has uncovered that Makoto Chomabayashi, 38, might have actually gambled 28 billion yen ($194,488,339.36), which would make it the largest figure attached to a single person in Japan’s history. It’s also estimated he lost around 40 million yen ($277,782.60).

As reported by Asahi, Chomabayashi gambled between August 2022 and April this year, racking up millions of yen in bets on baccarat via Stake. Chomabayashi claims that he knew it was illegal, just that he wouldn’t get caught doing so.

Speaking to the press, he said:

“News reports said there were hundreds of thousands of players in Japan, so I thought I was only the tip of the iceberg.”

It’s also suspected that he posted affiliate links to bring in new business for Stake under the username Meikyo Shisui on X, formerly Twitter. ReadWrite couldn’t find the account at the time of writing, with it suspected to have been pulled down already.

The X account would post images of wins and provide links to Stake, which would, in turn, provide a kickback to Chomabayashi. Police have reported that they suspect over 100 players will have joined the site through his link, with a potential 7 million yen ($48,615.33) made by the unaware gamblers.

Japan has been dealing with an influx of gambling in the country in recent years. Shockingly, 40% of individuals involved in legal proceedings around their gambling were unaware of the illegality of the act.

Earlier this month, Japanese lawmakers began to crack down on it further by introducing new laws to make it even more difficult to sign up and use online casinos.

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