Police arrested a former vice president of coffee shop chain Pronto Corp. and three others Wednesday on suspicion of taking out loans worth about 100 million yen under false pretenses.
Police also believe that Masayuki Hayasaka, 64, may have bilked companies out of as much as 4 billion yen via computer equipment leasing scams, investigators said, adding that Pronto was not involved.
Hayasaka allegedly borrowed money from a Tokyo finance company, saying it would be used for renovation work in February and March 2001.
Although some of the money was repaid, no renovations were carried out.
He also produced bogus leasing contracts for computer equipment and signed contracts with a number of leasing companies for several years through 2002, according to police.
Under the contracts, the leasing companies paid cash for the machines to a computer equipment firm, which was to deliver the goods to Pronto directly.
Pronto, in turn, was to pay monthly leasing fees to the leasing companies for use of the machines.
But the equipment firm was actually a front company run by Hayasaka's acquaintance and the goods were never delivered to Pronto.
Police said Hayasaka forged the seal of Pronto's president in the bogus documents.
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