And so it begins

[cstaylor]

Thieves grab Y3.5 bil in Ginza jewelry heist

The robbers at first pretended to be customers, saying in English that they wanted to buy souvenirs, the police said. Investigations showed the two had made purchases at the store late last month and earlier this week.

The clerk guided one of the two to the third floor, and was then blinded with pepper spray and hit. The man then smashed the glass showcases with a hammer and stole the gems, the police said.

Might want to watch yourself... Ishihara is coming for you.

[Big Booger]

Why do they use smashable glass in showcases?

Make the glass shatter proof, and that would deter most would-be jewel thieves. I have seen videos of the world's dummest crooks, where they'd try to throw a concrete block through a window and it bounced back and knocked them out..

Why can't they use this type of glass?
Keep the cases locked. That would slow down the process and might yield more results...

And where is the security guard while all of this was happening?

[gomichild]

didn't one of them spray pepper spray into the eyes of the guard?

[Taro Toporific]

Might want to watch yourself... Ishihara is coming for you.

Yep, "And so it begins..."
Local gov'ts worried about evacuating foreigners
Kyodo / Tuesday March 9, 11:04 AM
Municipalities with large foreign populations are facing the difficult task of how to protect and evacuate such residents in emergencies due to issues such as language barriers....When a disaster occurs, it will also have loudspeaker cars making announcements in Portuguese.
The protection and evacuation bill was among a set of seven bills the cabinet endorsed Tuesday to supplement Japan's first full-fledged war contingency legislation...

[cstaylor]

Won't be a problem for Tokyo... Ishihara will just unleash the grandchildren of the Kanto Quake Killers to "handle the foreigners".

[GomiGirl]

To go completely off topic.. what seems to be happening more and more are the tissue distributors are deliberately not offering tissues to foreigners. It seems that their companies have given them stricter instructions. I looked at one girl in Ikebukero and she actually blushed and said "I'm sorry" in English when I looked at her expectantly - I love getting tissues as they are really handy.

Ironically, I was with some clients last week who were visiting from Singapore and were Singapore Chinese. These folks speak no Japanese and don't live in Japan but in every restaurant they were addressed by the staff and were surprised when I started to translated for them but more importantly they were offered tissues by every arubaito tissue hander-outer-er.

I felt miffed.. when are people going to wake up to the fact that most of the FG's here actually speak Japanese and are not fresh off the boat???

Plus the FG's are more likely to read their stupid advertising in order to practice their reading!!!

/rant (feeling like a very FG today - don't worry, it will pass away soon enough with last nights curry. It always does.)

[Taro Toporific]

To go completely off topic.. what seems to be happening more and more are the tissue distributors are deliberately not offering tissues to foreigners. It seems that their companies have given them stricter instructions. ....

Hmmmm. Come to think of it, I've had to ask more than usual for the past year too. I always get the tissues after I ask, but now I gotta ask.

[cstaylor]

[Taro Toporific]

Now, here's a question: after the war with the United States started, what happened to expats living in the country? Did they all flee?

Can you see the concrete boat out your Yokohama window CS?


They used the Nippon Maru to trade some civilians; some of the evacuated Brits ended up in Hong Kong only to be captured again.

[cstaylor]

Now, here's a question: after the war with the United States started, what happened to expats living in the country? Did they all flee?

Can you see the concrete boat out your Yokohama window CS?


They used the Nippon Maru to trade some civilians]Nah, that boat is all the way over near Sakuragicho IIRC. I'm a little farther south on Negishi-sen.

[ramchop]

Hmmmm. Come to think of it, I've had to ask more than usual for the past year too. I always get the tissues after I ask, but now I gotta ask.

I've noticed that too. Although on Sunday, I was given a tissue pack advertising Nova. I thought that was funny.

[Taro Toporific]

Jewellery raid leads to police swoop on house
July 14 2004 Newsquest (Herald & Times) POLICE last night confirmed they had raided a house in Aberdeen [Scotland] in connection with the theft of jewellery in Japan worth about 18 million GBP. Twelve officers from Grampian Police, assisted by an intelligence unit from Interpol, raided an address which was linked to the theft of several pieces of jewellery from an upmarket shopping mall in Tokyo....

[fatslug]

Havent heard news of the robbers that stole all that jewlery from Ginza... anyone have the latest info ???? it was last year sometime....anyone remember it ?

[cstaylor]

No, your secret it still safe.

[Mulboyne]

Kyodo via Japan Today: Third suspect in Y3.5 bil Ginza jewelry heist arrested in Denmark
A Serbo-Montenegrin man suspected of robbing 3.5 billion yen worth of jewelry from a jewelry store in Tokyo's Ginza shopping district last year has been arrested in Denmark, Tokyo police said Thursday. The 35-year-old man was put on an international wanted list, together with three other foreign suspects, in connection with the robbery in March last year. Among the three, two citizens of Serbia and Montenegro — a 40-year-old man and a 22-year-old woman — have already been detained in the country by Serbo-Montenegrin police, while a 55-year-old British woman is still being sought.

[American Oyaji]

I'd like to know how they caught them and linked them to the Tokyo heist.

[Mulboyne]

I'd like to know how they caught them and linked them to the Tokyo heist.

I believe they compared security camera film (including the days prior to the robbery when the gang looked over the shop) with Narita Airport images and came up with three suspects fairly swiftly.

[Mulboyne]

Kyodo via Yahoo: 2 suspects in Tokyo jewelry heist plead not guilty in Belgrade court

Two of the three Serbian and Montenegrin defendants in the 2004 robbery of items worth 3.5 million yen from a Tokyo jewelry shop pleaded not guilty at the start of a special session at a criminal court in Belgrade. Djordjiej Rasovic, 40, and Snezana Panajotovic, 23, were indicted over the case in which a man and a woman robbed a jewelry shop in Tokyo's Ginza shopping district, injuring a sales clerk. Investigators suspect the robbery was conducted by a group of four, nicknamed "Pink Panther." The Belgrade court decided to try a third suspect, Aleksandar Radulovic, 35, believed to be the group's mastermind, separately because he has not yet been extradited from Denmark where he was arrested on other criminal offences and is detained. A fourth member, a British national, is on a wanted list. One of the attorneys for the defendants in Belgrade said Tuesday she was living in Scotland.

At the court, both defendants refused to make any statements besides pleading not guilty. During questioning by police, however, Panjotovic denied any involvement but said she was traveling in Japan and was at a coffee shop opposite the jewelry shop on the day of robbery, the court was told. Rosovic refused to speak during police questioning, the court was told. Given a lack of extradition treaty between Serbia and Montenegro and Japan, the trial of the defendants is being conducted in Belgrade. They can be sentenced up to 15 years in prison if found guilty. None of the stolen pieces has been found so far and their whereabouts remain unknown.

The "3.5 million yen" should be "3.5 billion yen".

[Taro Toporific]

I'd like to know how they caught them and linked them to the Tokyo heist.

I believe they compared security camera film (including the days prior to the robbery when the gang looked over the shop) with Narita Airport images and came up with three suspects fairly swiftly.

Note to self:
When fleeing Japan with loot, always use the ferry which has neither security cameras nor baggage check/X-ray.

[amdg]

To go completely off topic.. what seems to be happening more and more are the tissue distributors are deliberately not offering tissues to foreigners. It seems that their companies have given them stricter instructions. I looked at one girl in Ikebukero and she actually blushed and said "I'm sorry" in English when I looked at her expectantly - I love getting tissues as they are really handy.

Ironically, I was with some clients last week who were visiting from Singapore and were Singapore Chinese. These folks speak no Japanese and don't live in Japan but in every restaurant they were addressed by the staff and were surprised when I started to translated for them but more importantly they were offered tissues by every arubaito tissue hander-outer-er.

I felt miffed.. when are people going to wake up to the fact that most of the FG's here actually speak Japanese and are not fresh off the boat???

Plus the FG's are more likely to read their stupid advertising in order to practice their reading!!!

/rant (feeling like a very FG today - don't worry, it will pass away soon enough with last nights curry. It always does.)

Uggh - happens all the time to me because one of my buddies is ethnic Chinese. But the worst part is when the waitress continues to direct all communication to my friend even after its plainly obvious he doesn't understand what she's saying and that I'm translating for him. It's like some mental leap that they are just unable to make - talking to the gaijin when there's, what appears to be, a Japanese person present.

[Mulboyne]

Sunday Mail: Widow in Japan jewel heist probe now faces extradition to Italy

A SCOTS widow accused of being a key player in an 18 million pound Japanese jewellery robbery faces extradition in another international crime probe. Italian officials have started the legal process against seafood company boss Dorothy Fasola. The 55-year-old mother appeared at Edinburgh Sheriff Court last week in connection with a European arrest warrant and will face an extradition hearing on June 28. No details of the charges have been made public. Fasola was interviewed by Italian authorities behind closed doors at Aberdeen Sheriff Court last year. She appeared as a witness at the private hearing and was quizzed by a public prosecutor from Palermo, Sicily, over a 5 million pound fraud.

Fasola's Aberdeen home was raided two years ago after the robbery at a Tokyo jewellers. A gang of four got away with gems worth 18 million pound, including a 17 million pound diamond necklace. In April, she was named in court proceedings against two Serbians accused of carrying out the raid as their lookout. They are on trial in Belgrade because there is no extradition agreement between the country and Japan. Japanese and Scots police searched Fasola's cottage in Bucksburn but she was never charged and has denied any knowledge of the jewel heist. Yesterday, a Crown Office spokesman confirmed the Italian extradition move.

[Mulboyne]

Sometimes it's an inside job:

Yomiuri: Mikimoto's Ginza outlet falsified sales for 5 years

The main Ginza, Tokyo, outlet of K. Mikimoto & Co., a major jeweler based in Chuo Ward, falsely reported sales of about 1.3 billion yen from September 1999 to August 2004 in its financial statements, the company's internal investigation found. The investigation also revealed necklaces, rings, and other inventory worth tens of millions of yen went missing from the outlet during the same period. Mikimoto said Tuesday it would investigate further and is considering filing a criminal complaint with law enforcement authorities against those involved on suspicion of professional embezzlement. The company punished 35 employees of the outlet involved in compiling false sales reports and all 13 executives of the company, including then President and now Chairman Yoshimi Ito, with a reduction in salary and other disciplinary measures in October 2005.

[Mulboyne]

Serbianna: Serb mobsters get jail sentences for Japan heist

Three of the four members of the so-called "Pink Panther" gang were sentenced Tuesday to imprisonment ranging from three years and two months to seven years for robbing a Tokyo jewelry shop of 3.5 billion yen worth of jewels in 2004 -- the biggest ever heist in Japan. After a trial of nearly one and a half years, the Special Belgrade Court found the three -- two men and a woman, all of them Serbs -- guilty and sentenced Aleksandar Radulovic, 37, to seven years, Djordjije Rasovic, 42, to six years and six months, and Snezana Panajotovic, 24, to three years and two months in prison.

The court ignored claims by one of the defendants that the robbery was carried on an order by the shop owner for a reward of $100,000, as videotapes shown during the trial, the testimony by the shop's employees, fingerprints and other pieces of evidence confirmed the gang had carried out the heist. The gang of four -- three Serbs and a female British national -- on March 5, 2004 took away from the Supre-Diamant Couture De Maki store in Tokyo's Ginza district 12 pieces of jewelry, including the 125-carat diamond necklace "Comtesse de Vendome," worth itself over 22 million euros.

None the stolen pieces has yet to be recovered. The British national, Dorothy Fasola Mey, was not tried in Belgrade, as Britain does not permit the extradition of its nationals for trials in other countries [Yes we do, so there must have been another issue preventing extradition].

[L S]

Mulboyne, thanks for the update on this story...I had forgotten about it. You are dedicated!

[Mulboyne]

Not sure why they were being tried again after the decision in 2007. Perhaps they appealed.

AP: 'Pink Panther' jewel thieves sentenced in Serbia

Three Serb members of the infamous "Pink Panther" ring of thieves were convicted Friday of Japan's biggest-ever jewel heist, which nabbed treasures including a $27-million (euro19-million) diamond necklace. A Belgrade court found the three guilty in their second trial of stealing $31.5 million worth of jewels from an upscale shop in Tokyo in March 2004. The jewels have never been found. Aleksandar Radulovic was sentenced to six years and nine months in prison and Djordje Rasovic received six years and three months, while Snezana Panajotovic got two years and ten months in jail. The two men, Rasovic and Radulovic, used force during the robbery, and Panajotovic held guard in front of the jewelry shop, Judge Milena Rasic of Serbia's organized crime court said. The court has said the three were part of the "Pink Panther" ring named after the 1963 film starring Peter Sellers as the bungling Inspector Clouseau. The group is believed to be mainly from the Balkans, and is suspected of several jewel thefts worth more than $150 million in Europe, Asia and the Persian Gulf.

The three convicted Friday were ordered to return the 125-carat necklace, two diamond earrings and seven diamond rings - or pay the equivalent of their total value in Serbian dinars. The second trial was held after their lawyers appealed the original verdicts. The prison sentences handed down Friday were slightly lower then those in the original ruling in 2007. The three were arrested in Belgrade in 2005 on an international warrant and charged in Serbia after Japan agreed that the trial would be held in Serbia. A fourth suspect, a British woman, was not on trial in Belgrade. The agreement between Japan and Serbia only covered the trial of Serb citizens.