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[Kotaku] Editor At Japan's Biggest Game Publication Famitsu Arrested For Alleged Fraud

Arubedo

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kotaku.com

Editor At Japan's Biggest Game Publication Famitsu Arrested For Alleged Fraud

Famitsu editor Eiichi Sato was arrested for alleged fraud. According to Asahi News, Sato is accused of pulling off an impersonation ruse to collect freelance fees for articles.
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Famitsu editor Eiichi Sato was arrested for alleged fraud. According to Asahi News, Sato is accused of pulling off an impersonation ruse to collect freelance fees for articles.
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Sato has confessed to the charges. "I didn't have any savings," the 43-year-old is quoted as saying, "and I was worried about the future." He added that he thought he would get caught but his desire for lots of money was stronger than those concerns.
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Editorial Fraud: 40/40
 
L Thammy

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Honestly, what jumps out at me is that a 43 year old Famitsu editor doesn't have any savings. What's going on there?
 
Cactuar

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Sato has confessed to the charges. "I didn't have any savings," the 43-year-old is quoted as saying, "and I was worried about the future." He added that he thought he would get caught but his desire for lots of money was stronger than those concerns.
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Dyle

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That evidence display seems a little overdone for a fraud case where less than $4,000 changed hands. Must be a slow day at that police department
 
Tomo815

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I don't understand what is going on?

Did he write the articles or not? Was he getting paid for articles he wrote or what?
 
Bony Manifesto

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I don't quite understand the scam here. Was the fraud in the filing of the freelance articles (were they plagiarised or sold to multiple outlets?), or in the acquisition of a black market ATM card? Basically: who was the party being defrauded?
 
Night Terror

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Bony Manifesto said:
I don't quite understand the scam here. Was the fraud in the filing of the freelance articles (were they plagiarised or sold to multiple outlets?), or in the acquisition of a black market ATM card? Basically: who was the party being defrauded?
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If what BadWolf explains is correct, I guess he was basically scamming Famitsu by getting paid twice: once as editor and another time as a freelance journalist.
 
FrakEarth

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It's kind of mental that they didn't just have processes in place where the editor could be remunerated for writing articles. Like, as editor, he chooses what goes in - if he wants to contribute content - you'd think he'd be able to. Its basically like he did unauthorised overtime?

Kinda feel sorry for him that he was that desperate but silly. Imagine the punishment is likely harsher than it should be. Unless of course...

Bony Manifesto said:
I don't quite understand the scam here. Was the fraud in the filing of the freelance articles (were they plagiarised or sold to multiple outlets?), or in the acquisition of a black market ATM card? Basically: who was the party being defrauded?
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...the answer to the this question is more complicated
 
Bansai

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Bony Manifesto said:
I don't quite understand the scam here. Was the fraud in the filing of the freelance articles (were they plagiarised or sold to multiple outlets?), or in the acquisition of a black market ATM card? Basically: who was the party being defrauded?
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Famitsu.

He was passing his own articles as freelance work by some unspecified 3rd party that he had to pay, collected said payment from Famitsu, then pocketed it.
 
Bony Manifesto

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FrakEarth said:
It's kind of mental that they didn't just have processes in place where the editor could be remunerated for writing articles. Like, as editor, he chooses what goes in - if he wants to contribute content - you'd think he'd be able to. Its basically like he did unauthorised overtime?
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Ah this makes sense. He was using his position at Famitsu to commission freelance articles from himself.

Honestly, seems like more of a firing offense than a criminal one (though I guess the bank fraud element makes it so).
 
Cactuar

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FrakEarth said:
It's kind of mental that they didn't just have processes in place where the editor could be remunerated for writing articles.
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Assuming he is a salaried employee that's just now how it works.

Now, if he is hourly then it is strange why he could not be compensated for more work. Problem there is if he's an hourly employee and wants to get paid more to do these stories, he'd have to make a case to be paid overtime (which could be anywhere from time and a half to double time and a half), and that may be a hard sell to a company who would then just tell him to "Do the work within your normal 40 hours."
 
Dr. Mario

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Dyle said:
That evidence display seems a little overdone for a fraud case where less than $4,000 changed hands. Must be a slow day at that police department
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I don't know how much the rest of you know about Japanese culture (I'm an expert), but honor and shame are huge parts of it. It's not like it is in America where you can become successful by being a two time hustler. If you screw someone over in Japan, you bring shame to yourself, and the only way to get rid of that shame is repentance.

What this means is the japanese public, after hearing about this, is not going to want to purchase Famitsu magazine anymore. This is HUGE. You can laugh all you want, but this guy has alienated his entire market with this move.

He needs to publicly apologize and lay all his shameful bank statements and work paraphernalia on the table or he can kiss his future employability goodbye.
 

ookiimarukochan

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L Thammy said:
Honestly, what jumps out at me is that a 43 year old Famitsu editor doesn't have any savings. What's going on there?
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The only people under 50 or so - early 50s now I guess - who've made good money at any point in their career in Japan are lawyers (and a few celebs I guess, but far less than you'd think), the generational wealth inbalance in Japan is absolutely unreal.
 
Tomo815

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Cactuar said:
Assuming he is a salaried employee that's just now how it works.

Now, if he is hourly then it is strange why he could not be compensated for more work. Problem there is if he's an hourly employee and wants to get paid more to do these stories, he'd have to make a case to be paid overtime (which could be anywhere from time and a half to double time and a half), and that may be a hard sell to a company who would then just tell him to "Do the work within your normal 40 hours."
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If this is how it went down, Im kind of sorry for him.
 
Valkerion

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Tomo815 said:
But he actually wrote the articles or not? I don't get why he is in trouble, maybe the articles were not his?
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Probably has a contract clause for having two jobs, its a thing in Japan for some reason with some companies even if they pay shit. Or conflict of interest/identity fraud. Saying your someone else to get the money. Likely a combination of things. That said Japan is hilarious when they catch inconsequential "criminals" by parading around nondescript "evidence" for the news. The blank dvds for when they bust porn bootleggers are my favorites though.
 
El_TigroX

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L Thammy said:
Honestly, what jumps out at me is that a 43 year old Famitsu editor doesn't have any savings. What's going on there?
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I did games press for a few years, it was fine... but not enough to stick around long.

Here's a story of what spooked me out of newspapers. I was 21 and got a newspaper job near Boston as staff writer. Another staff writer was on a paper in the same office - he was probably early 40s. He had been working there for 20 something years. On his way to work, someone T-boned his car, and he wasn't at fault. Even with not being at fault, he didn't have enough money to pay his deductible and get a new car, and basically couldn't get to work, and lost his job.

I was maybe a year into the job and I thought "Here this guy is... worked for 20 years, and an accident not his fault, utterly destroyed his life." So at first sight, I ran out of press into marketing... then later went back to games press, and then left that when the money wasn't coming in as an editor.

It's a young man's game, and if you can get the cost of living sorted out, you can be ok. But never really enough to retire.
 
Empyrean Cocytus

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Slayven said:
Damn that is cold AF
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Japan doesn't fuck around with their legal system which is arguably even more draconian than the US. Suspects are guilty until proven innocent, have zero right to privacy while under investigation, have their entire lives put on display, and face stiff penalties for even minor infractions. Possession of weed can run up a whopping 5 years in prison in Japan while it's only one year in the US (and only in some states). Not to mention even if you are found innocent, or do something that isn't illegal but frowned upon (cheating on your wife, for instance) you are branded a social pariah and can be fired from your job and have difficulty finding a new one.
 
Tomo815

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Empyrean Cocytus said:
Japan doesn't fuck around with their legal system which is arguably even more draconian than the US. Suspects are guilty until proven innocent, have zero right to privacy while under investigation, have their entire lives put on display, and face stiff penalties for even minor infractions. Possession of weed can run up a whopping 5 years in prison in Japan while it's only one year in the US (and only in some states). Not to mention even if you are found innocent, or do something that isn't illegal but frowned upon (cheating on your wife, for instance) you are branded a social pariah and can be fired from your job and have difficulty finding a new one.
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In Japan possession is a bigger crime than a cop killing a black person in the states

Oh wait
 

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Dyle said:
That evidence display seems a little overdone for a fraud case where less than $4,000 changed hands. Must be a slow day at that police department
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Yeah, this.
What the hell does the police there do with businessmen who scam people and organisations out of millions, I wonder, if a measly 4000 USD warrants a public spectacle like this?

(I suspect I know the answer, though)
 
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