The hiding of wealth: organised crime in Japan

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Introduces the subject of asset concealment by remarking that hiding wealth derived from organised crime is common in East Asia, and can involve tax evasion, money laundering and bankruptcy. Reviews the amount of tax evasion in Japan, followed by recent statistics of money laundering offences under the Organised Crime Countermeasures Law; there have been many reports of suspicions but only four convictions, indicating that prevention is working. Moves on to consider the numbers of offences related to bankruptcy, which are covered by the Penal Code or the Bankruptcy Act; they include concealment of debtors’ or bankrupts’ profits, improper evasion of compulsory seizure of goods by means of transfer or fictitious debts, and causing bankruptcy by a debtor’s fraudulent act.