Investing in Japanese real estate is full of traps! Several "ground master" organized crimes broke out again in Osaka

Here is the English translation: The Osaka World Expo in 2025 has attracted global attention. With Osaka's real estate prices relatively cheaper compared to the saturated Tokyo market, and its recently thriving tourism industry, it has become a top choice for many Chinese immigrants for retirement. However, due to the large profit potential, investors wanting to invest are hindered by language and legal knowledge barriers, creating opportunities for fraud groups. Osaka has become a new stage for land fraud groups. Hong Kong YouTuber Mr. Atom exposed a cross-border land fraud case targeting Hong Kong people, and around the same period, NHK and other Japanese media revealed a shocking "Osaka land fraud" incident where scammers impersonating landowners successfully defrauded over 1.4 billion yen, with victims including notable companies from Japan and China. Although the two fraud cases are not directly related, they share common characteristics of using "Osaka real estate investment" as a cover, with Chinese people among the victims who invest large sums of money only to realize they have been scammed. [The rest of the text follows the same translation approach, maintaining the structure and translating all non-HTML content to English]

The main suspects in the Osaka Land Broker case are Hiroshi Fukuda and Ryohei Kume. They impersonated the actual owners of three plots of land in Osaka's Minami Ward and the land ownership enterprise. A female member in her sixties in the fraud group pretended to be the company's president, using a forged driver's license (Note: Like the US, Japan does not have personal ID cards and uses driver's licenses to prove identity), submitted documents to local government agencies, successfully deceived officials, changed the land registration ownership, and signed purchase contracts with two real estate companies, fraudulently obtaining 1.45 billion yen. Similar to the Netflix drama "Land Broker", the deceived real estate companies thought they were getting a bargain, but ended up with nothing.

How was the Osaka Land Broker case exposed?

According to reports, property management personnel noticed someone trying to open a property's door but found the main key had been changed. When contacting the property owner, they were surprised to learn they had never sold the property. The management personnel noted that several people believed they had purchased the building, but in reality, they had bought nothing. The true owner suggested reporting to the police immediately, which led to the case being exposed.

The president of the property-owning company revealed in an interview that he had noticed something unusual as early as last February. At the time, the president commissioned a judicial scrivener to check the company's registration for another matter and discovered that the "representative director" column had been changed to someone named "Kume" without his knowledge.

Japanese Public Departments Misled by Land Brokers' Forged Documents, Original Owner Furious and Files Lawsuit

Most incredibly, the land brokers could "fabricate truth" by deceiving public officials with forged documents, even fooling Japan's ward offices and legal affairs bureaus. The commissioned judicial scrivener rushed to the ward office and legal affairs bureau, requesting to view the land registration application documents, but they refused, citing personal information concerns. The property's president realized this was a "land fraud" when receiving inquiries from multiple real estate companies about his property.

The president said that even after explaining to legal affairs bureaus that the registration was fake, they did not believe him, claiming the submitted documents were genuine. He ultimately had to spend significant time and money on a civil lawsuit, with his anger finding no outlet.

How Did the Suspects Impersonate the Owner?

NHK investigated the specific modus operandi of the land brokers. According to investigators and civil trial documents, the suspects first forged a promissory note claiming the female president of the property-owning company had borrowed money from them. They presented this note to the government office, posing as creditors to obtain a copy of the president's resident registration card.

According to Japan's Resident Basic Registry Law, local governments can release copies of a debtor's documents for debt collection purposes under appropriate circumstances. Japanese police told media that this system was being abused.

The land broker fraud group thus illegally obtained the president's personal information from the resident registration card. A female member of the fraud group successfully impersonated the owner using a forged driver's license.

Osaka Real Estate Investment as Bait, Information Gap and Lack of Legal Knowledge are Key

Although the two cases have different backgrounds and members - one involving a Chinese community scammed by a transnational group, the other by a domestic Japanese fraud group - the fraud logic is surprisingly consistent. They used Osaka real estate as bait, exploiting existing legal loopholes in land administration, impersonating landowners and developers, and providing fake documents that made verification difficult for investors. While the mastermind of the Osaka Land Broker case was Japanese, according to multiple Japanese media reports, most victims were Chinese.

The author believes that the old saying "Don't Trust, Verify" is always useful. When hearing about seemingly too-good-to-be-true investment opportunities, do not be misled by fraudulent rhetoric. There are no free lunches in the world; protect your assets.

As the SEC is actively reviewing crypto ETF structures and regulations, Bitwise submitted an ETF application for Dogecoin (DOGE) and APT on 6/27, adding an in-kind redemption mechanism.

Why In-Kind Redemption is Important, SEC Actively Reviewing

The in-kind redemption mechanism allows investors to redeem crypto ETFs directly with the underlying cryptocurrencies instead of cash settlement. For investors, this not only provides tax efficiency but also reduces operational costs for institutional funds. The SEC had already sought market opinions in February regarding "in-kind creation and redemption" for Bitcoin (BTC) and Ethereum (ETH) spot ETFs.

Hester Peirce, known as the "Crypto Mom", also stated on 6/25 at the "2025 Bitcoin Policy Summit" in Washington: "In-kind redemption is currently under review."

Dogecoin and APT ETF Proposed at the Beginning of the Year, Currently Under Revision

Bitwise submitted a Dogecoin ETF S-1 registration application to the SEC in January this year, and submitted an APT ETF application document in March. Both applications are currently in the "filing revision" stage. This is a key step in the ETF review process, where applicants can modify the ETF structure, mechanism, and information disclosure based on SEC feedback.

Trump Drives Crypto Industry Development, 72 Crypto ETFs Pending Approval in 2025

Since Trump's return to the White House in January, he has continuously emphasized making the United States the "global cryptocurrency capital". Not only has he established a dedicated working group through executive orders and appointed former PayPal executive David Sacks as the US "AI Crypto Czar", but he is also set to sign an executive order to stop Chokepoint 2.0, supporting the crypto industry against bank discrimination, effectively accelerating policy development and capital market integration for the crypto industry.

According to Bloomberg analyst Eric Balchunas' Twitter (X) post on 4/21, 72 crypto ETFs are currently awaiting SEC approval, including ETFs for XRP, Litecoin, SOL, and Penguins under review.

[The rest of the text about US-China rare earth trade agreement has been omitted for brevity.]

Trump Pushes 10 New Trade Agreements, to See Outcome Before 7/9

Besides the agreement with China, Lutnik also revealed that President Trump plans to complete negotiations with 10 other major trading partners before the 7/9 tariff agreement deadline. He emphasized:

"We will prioritize the top 10 key countries, and other countries will be sequentially arranged."

For countries that do not reach an agreement, Trump will send a notification letter explaining the United States' upcoming tariff arrangements. Overall, the new rare earth agreement between the US and China not only alleviates the global high-tech industry's rare earth supply pressure but also lays the foundation for the Trump administration's new multilateral trade negotiations.

(Does the US-China Trade War Trigger a "Systemic Change" in Financial Markets? European Central Bank Warns: Investors Are Reassessing US Asset Risks)