US slaps sanctions on Yakuza crime syndicate newcomer, Kobe Yamaguchi-gumi
The move freezes any US assets of the organization and three of its bosses and prevents US financial institutions from doing business with them
The US on Friday took aim at a relative newcomer to Japan’s Yakuza crime network, slapping financial sanctions on the Kobe Yamaguchi-gumi network it says uses legitimate businesses to launder money.
The move freezes any US assets of the organization and three of its bosses and prevents US financial institutions from doing business with them, in another step by the US Treasury Department’s to cut off Yakuza financing and profit centres.
“This action reflects Treasury’s ongoing commitment to protect the US and international financial systems from the malign influence” of transnational criminal organisations, senior Treasury official John Smith said in a statement.
This action reflects Treasury’s ongoing commitment to protect the US and international financial systems from the malign influence [of transnational criminal organisations]
Treasury sanctioned the breakaway Kobe Yamaguchi-gumi crime syndicate, which formed in September 2015 when 13 subsidiary gangs, split from their parent syndicate, the Yamaguchi-gumi, to form their own Yakuza group.
The new group took about 30 per cent of Yamaguchi-gumi membership, and now has roughly 7,000 members. The split sparked a turf war in Japan where the groups have traded molotov cocktails, according to news reports.
Treasury had already sanctioned the Yamaguchi-gumi in February 2012, and this action brings the total of Yakuza targeted by sanctions to 17 individuals and seven entities.
