It’s not every day that a tattoo-loving, magazine-printing criminal syndicate finds itself in the crosshairs of the pin-striped suits at the U.S. Treasury Department. It’s Office of Foreign Assets Control Tuesday sanctioned an affiliate of Japan’s infamous Yakuza syndicate.
OFAC used a 2011 presidential executive order to impose sanctions on the Kodo-kai and its chairman Teruaki Takeuchi. OFAC declared them a significant transnational criminal organization and sought to block them from the U.S. financial system and by extension the global finance.
In a statement, the Treasury Department said Kodo-kai is a major second-tier affiliate of the Yamaguchi-gumi, which officials called the largest and most prominent Japanese Yakuza syndicate.
The Yakuza syndicate, made famous to U.S. gamers in Grand Theft Auto video games, operates in a fashion similar to what Americans might broadly call the mob or the mafia. Law enforcement authorities say the Yakuza and its allies have ties to organized crime in Europe and Asia, and is involved in drug trafficking and money laundering in the United States.
Yakuza members and affiliates are involved in extortion and criminal activity, but in Japan they are almost socially accepted, even printing their own magazine. Newspapers carry buzz about the leaders of groups, and many have been tied to prominent politicians. Members are fond of full-body tattoos and are reported to have sundry oddities.
The Kodo-kai, according to the OFAC statement, is known to be the most violent faction within the Yamaguchi-gumi and is headquartered in Nagoya, Japan with about 4,000 members. Among other criminal activities, it said the Kodo-kai has conducted extortion and engaged in bribery on behalf of the Yamaguchi-gumi and has gained prominence in part for its financial muscle.
“We will continue to target and expose members of criminal organizations like the Yakuza as we work to protect the U.S. financial system from their illicit activity,” OFAC Acting Director John E. Smith said.
The OFAC sanctions hit Takeuchi, the alleged chairman of Kodo-kai, and the group’s alleged former chairman Kiyoshi Takayama, who promoted Takeuchi in 2013 and is said to be the deputy godfather of the Yamaguchi-gumi.
The Treasury action also designated 13 senior Yakuza members and five Yakuza entities – the Yamaguchi-gumi, Sumiyoshi-kai, Inagawa-kai, Kudo-kai, and Kodo-kai. Officials said Tuesday’s designation of the Kodo-kai marks the first time a second-tier Yakuza affiliate is being targeted.