(Update) Ex-Manager of Nihon Univ. Weightlifting Club Arrested over Fraud

   Tokyo, June 10 (Jiji Press)--Tokyo police arrested a former manager of Nihon University's weightlifting club on Tuesday for allegedly defrauding the club's scholarship students of money, including in the name of tuition fees.
   Kenji Nanba, 63, was arrested on suspicion of swindling four scholarship students out of a total of 2.05 million yen in December 2022 by saying that the money included facility costs, from which they were actually exempt.
   According to investigative sources, Nanba denies the allegations, saying that he believes he received the money as donations with the consent of students' parents, and that he did not use any of the money for personal purposes.
   Police believe that Nanba has collected a total of about 38 million yen from 48 students over 10 years by telling similar lies. He is believed to have used swindled money to buy business suits and bags and cover the cost of painting his luxury BMW car.
   According to the university, Nanba began such scams around 20 years ago or earlier and has earned a total of 53.2 million yen. The university detected the fraud during an investigation into a separate scandal, and it has fully compensated 58 parents of former club members whom it confirmed as victims.

(2025/06/10-17:03)

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