Tokyo police have charged pop star Shion Tsurubo, known from JO1 and Produce 101 Japan. This marks a continuation of the Japanese police crackdown on celebrities and sports stars involved in illegal betting-related offenses through online gambling sites.
The pop star admitted he used betting sites to place bets on roulette games as recently as August 2024.
However, Sankei Shimbun reported that Tsurubo claimed he was unaware that betting on these sites was illegal in Japan.
Lapone Entertainment, his talent agency, suspended him from activities for over a week at the end of May after releasing a statement revealing that Tsurubo had placed bets on illegal sites.
Lapone released a 5-minute 55-second video on the JO1 website on June 17. In the video, dressed in a black suit, Tsurubo repeatedly bows deeply to viewers. He also asks for forgiveness for his wrongdoings.
The Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department has asked prosecutors to push ahead with an indictment. It said prosecutors should look for strict punishment for the pop star.
Authorities accuse Tsurubo of accessing an online casino site called K8 multiple times from within Japan between December 2023 and June 2024.
He reportedly topped up his K8 account numerous times and deposited a total of $104,000 on the site.
Police claim that the pop star racked up losses of around $48,591. However, the star claimed he didn’t know that betting on overseas sites was illegal in Japan. He said he only became aware of this in August of the previous year. That’s when he stopped using the site.
A lot of other Japanese stars accused of betting on foreign sites have made numerous claims. Some people said they knew Japanese firms were not allowed to offer betting services. However, they believed they were permitted to place bets on overseas platforms.
CasinoBeats has found evidence that users with Japanese IP addresses can freely access several Japanese-language websites offering casino-style betting games.
