Want to Avoid Fraud Charges? Get Plastic Surgery and Move to Thailand.
A Japanese lawyer was caught in Thailand after years on the run -- and a fair amount of plastic surgery.
After lawyer Yasuo Tsubaki manipulated the Japanese stock market to earn some $116 million between 2001 and 2005, he figured the easiest way to evade arrest would be to become someone else.
After lawyer Yasuo Tsubaki manipulated the Japanese stock market to earn some $116 million between 2001 and 2005, he figured the easiest way to evade arrest would be to become someone else.
So, according to the Thai police who arrested him this week, he moved to Thailand in 2007 and got plastic surgery to alter his appearance.
Thailand’s Immigration Bureau announced Friday that Tsubaki was taken into custody in Bangkok on Wednesday when he attempted to renew his visa. According to the Bangkok Post, Thai officials became suspicious when they noticed Tsubaki’s face did not match earlier photos in their database.
Upon further investigation, they found that there was a long-standing Japanese warrant out for his arrest. Authorities there say he and a group of others bought shares in the company where he worked to drive up the price, then quickly sold them to make a small fortune.
Tsubaki had most recently been living anonymously in a suburb outside of Bangkok, using various Thai names and cell phone numbers to hide his identity — which he admitted to police this week.
Tsubaki was put on display at a press briefing in Bangkok on Friday, alongside various photos of him from recent years, which show subtle changes to his nose and cheeks. He is expected to be deported to Japan on Monday.
Photo credit: Twitter screengrab
Siobhán O'Grady was a staff writer at Foreign Policy from 2015-2016 and was previously an editorial fellow.
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