Sendai District Court sentenced 29-year-old Tomu Fujinuma to three years in prison, suspended for five years, for transporting a kidnapped high school student to Myanmar to engage in fraud. Prosecutors had sought four years and six months. The presiding judge called the act 'a malicious act.'
On January 20, Sendai District Court handed down a three-year prison sentence, suspended for five years, to 29-year-old Tomu Fujinuma for transporting a 17-year-old male high school student from Miyagi Prefecture to Myanmar in January 2025 to commit fraud. The boy had been kidnapped to Thailand by an unidentified individual before Fujinuma moved him by ship to a fraud group's hub in Myanmar, fully aware of the circumstances.
Prosecutors had requested four years and six months in prison, but Presiding Judge Yuichi Suda suspended the sentence, citing Fujinuma's admission of guilt and a settlement with the victim. Suda denounced the actions, stating that transporting the student, including by ship, to a place from which he could not return by himself was "a malicious act."
The case highlights the dangers of cross-border human trafficking tied to scam operations. It underscores the court's emphasis on deterrence while balancing rehabilitation factors in sentencing.
