MITO—Ibaraki prefectural police on November 12 arrested a Chinese national suspected of impersonating a celebrity in the largest online investment fraud against a single person in Japan.

Wen Zhuolin, 34, of Tokyo’s Sumida Ward, is suspected of stealing 83 million yen ($535,000) from a 71-year-old female business executive in Ibaraki Prefecture.

According to police, the suspect and his accomplices allegedly used the Line messaging app to communicate with the victim between October 2023 and April this year.

Wen is accused of impersonating the famous economist Takuro Morinaga and his assistant, convincing the woman to invest in gold and promising unrealistic 85 percent monthly returns.

Police said the victim handed the money to the suspects in two separate incidents at a train station in southern Ibaraki Prefecture in December last year.

Earlier this year, state police reported that the same woman was defrauded by people posing as famous entrepreneur Takafumi Horie.

The total loss suffered by the woman was 809 million yen, making it the largest known case of online investment fraud against an individual in Japan.

In May, Fukushima prefectural police arrested Wen in connection with a separate fraud case.

Police said evidence seized during the investigation led to the discovery of Wen’s involvement in the Ibaraki case.