Real-life ‘Tokyo Swindlers’ ordered to pay ¥1 billion in damages

In the real-life case that inspired the Netflix hit "Tokyo Swindlers," the Tokyo District Court on Wednesday ordered five of the fraudsters involved to pay ¥1 billion in damages to Sekisui House after swindling the construction company of ¥5.5 billion in a fraudulent land transaction. The five defendants in the ruling included the con group’s ringleader Mike Uchida, 71, who is currently serving a 12-year prison sentence after being found guilty of fraud in 2020 in separate criminal court proceedings related to the case.

The defendants were ordered Wednesday to pay ¥1 billion in total — only a portion of what they swindled — to Sekisui House between the five of them..