TOKYO: Part of revenue from YouTube videos posted by former Japanese lawmaker GaaSyy, who was arrested Sunday on suspicion of threatening celebrities, was transferred to his bank account in Japan, investigative sources told Jiji Press on Tuesday.

Tokyo’s Metropolitan Police Department suspects that GaaSyy, 51, whose real name is Yoshikazu Higashitani, withdrew the money somehow while he was staying in the United Arab Emirates (UAE).

According to the sources, GaaSyy’s revenue from the YouTube videos was remitted to a Tokyo-based company effectively run by an acquaintance of the former member of the House of Councillors, the upper chamber of the Diet, Japan’s parliament.

The money was then distributed to parties concerned, including to GaaSyy’s bank account in Japan. The MPD raided the company in January this year.

Around February last year, GaaSyy started to post videos revealing scandals about celebrities on YouTube from the UAE, where he had stayed since December 2021. His YouTube channel had more than one million subscribers at one point.

He continued posting videos until the suspension of his channel in July last year, earning over 100 million yen on YouTube during the period.

In March this year, the MPD obtained an arrest warrant for GaaSyy on charges including violation of the law against violence by repeatedly threatening celebrities in online videos.

Japanese police sent investigators to the UAE in late May, urging local authorities to extradite him early. GaaSyy was apparently detained by the UAE authorities later. He returned to Japan on Sunday and was arrested by the MPD upon arrival.

In March, GaaSyy was expelled from the Upper House as a penalty for not attending even a single parliamentary meeting since he was elected to the chamber in July 2022.

JIJI Press