The Tokyo District Court sentenced "sokaiya" corporate extortionist Ryuichi Koike to the maximum nine-month prison term Wednesday for extorting 12.4 billion yen in loans and payoffs from the nation's four top securities houses and Dai-Ichi Kangyo Bank.
Koike, 55, was also fined 693 million yen -- the total amount of payoffs he received from the then Big Four brokerages -- Nomura Securities Co., Daiwa Securities Co., Nikko Securities Co. and Yamaichi Securities Co., which has since gone bankrupt.
In handing down his ruling, Judge Yuichi Okada said Koike "cannot avoid severe criticism" for his "extremely manipulative and unscrupulous" crime.