
Ex-lab tech accused of flooding Tokyo hotel with 258 fake same-day bookings
According to NHK World, the suspect — one Junki Sanuki from the quiet city of Izumo in Shimane Prefecture — allegedly reserved 258 hotel rooms for the same day, all under fake names, all entirely unattended.
The Tokyo Metropolitan Police say the reservations, made for a hotel in Ota Ward in December, totalled roughly ¥7.7 million (about RM208,000).
But that was just the tip of the roomberg — authorities uncovered more than 580 bogus bookings across other dates too, clocking in at over ¥17 million in total.
Sanuki, a former clinical laboratory technician at Shimane University Hospital, reportedly pulled off this feat using an arsenal of fake names and email addresses — apparently going to more trouble than a real guest might. Whether he ever had any intention of actually checking in remains unclear.
Police told NHK World the hotel contacted them after noticing a suspicious pattern of vanishing guests and empty rooms that could've been filled by actual travellers with actual luggage.
What was Sanuki's motive? Revenge? Boredom? A deeply misguided social experiment? Nobody knows — because he's reportedly gone full mime during police questioning, staying tight-lipped about his reservation rampage.
For now, Sanuki faces charges of fraudulent obstruction of business.
Hashtags

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles


Malay Mail
2 days ago
- Malay Mail
‘Ambassador' of Nowhere: Indian police arrest man for running embassy of imaginary nations
NEW DELHI, July 26 — Police in India have arrested a man accused of running a fake embassy from a rented house near New Delhi and duping job seekers out of money with promises of overseas employment. Harsh Vardhan Jain, 47, was operating an 'illegal West Arctic embassy by renting a house' in Ghaziabad, Uttar Pradesh, which neigbhours the capital, local police said. Jain, according to police, claimed to be the ambassador of fictional nations 'like West Arctica, Saborga, Poulvia, Lodonia'. He allegedly used vehicles with fake diplomatic plates and shared doctored photos of himself with Indian leaders to bolster his claims. 'His main activities involved acting as a broker to secure work in foreign countries for companies and private individuals, as well as operating a hawala (money transfer) racket through shell companies,' the police said in a statement following his arrest earlier this week. He is also accused of money laundering. During a raid on Jain's property, police said they recovered US$53,500 (RM226,000) in cash in addition to doctored passports and forged documents bearing stamps of India's foreign ministry. AFP was unable to reach Jain or his representatives for comment. Westarctica, cited by the police as one of the countries Jain claimed to be representing, is a US-registered nonprofit 'dedicated to studying and preserving this vast, magnificent, desolate region' of Western Antarctica. In a statement, it said it had appointed Jain as its 'Honorary Consul to India' after he had made a 'generous donation'. 'He was never granted the position or authority of ambassador,' it added. — AFP


Free Malaysia Today
4 days ago
- Free Malaysia Today
HP owed over US$940mil by Mike Lynch's estate, partner, says UK court
Mike Lynch died last year when his luxury yacht sank off Sicily. (Reuters pic) LONDON : Hewlett Packard is owed more than £700 million (US$944 million) from the estate of the late Mike Lynch and his former business partner over its acquisition of their British software firm Autonomy, a judge at London's High Court said today. HP was seeking to recoup its losses from Lynch, who died last year when his luxury yacht sank off Sicily – and Autonomy's former CFO, Sushovan Hussain. The US technology giant sued Lynch and Hussain, accusing them of masterminding an elaborate fraud to inflate the value of Autonomy, which HP bought for US$11.1 billion in 2011 before the deal spectacularly unravelled. HP wrote down Autonomy's value by US$8.8 billion within a year and brought a US$5 billion lawsuit against Lynch and Hussain in London, with a judge ruling in HP's favour in 2022. Lynch, once hailed as Britain's answer to Bill Gates, had always maintained his innocence and blamed HP for failing to integrate Autonomy into the company. He was acquitted of criminal charges over the deal in the US and had intended to appeal the High Court's 2022 ruling, a process which was on hold pending today's decision on damages. Judge Robert Hildyard ruled HP sustained losses of over £646 million (US$871.8 million) in relation to the difference between what HP paid for Autonomy and what HP would have paid 'had Autonomy's true financial position been correctly presented'. Hilyard also said HP was entitled to another £51.7 million in relation to 'personal claims for deceit and/or misrepresentation against Dr Lynch and Mr Hussain', plus another US$47.5 million in relation to losses suffered by group companies. HP said at a hearing last year that it was seeking up to US$4 billion. Hussain settled with HP earlier this year.

Malay Mail
4 days ago
- Malay Mail
Pahang businessman loses RM2.2m in back-to-back Facebook investment scams
KUANTAN, July 24 — A businessman lost over RM2.2 million in separate scams just months apart this year, after falling for fake investment schemes advertised on Facebook. Pahang police chief Datuk Seri Yahaya Othman said that in May, the 45-year-old man was lured by a scheme and contacted an individual via WhatsApp. He then made 18 transactions totaling RM1.86 million to six bank accounts between May 14 and July 15, 2025. 'The victim received a return of over RM20,000, which convinced him to continue investing. However, last Tuesday, he was asked to make an additional RM88,000 payment for a 'fast withdrawal' process. 'He refused, and checks via the Semak Mule portal revealed the bank accounts involved had criminal records,' he said in a statement today. Yahaya added that previously, the victim fell for a similar scam, losing RM440,000 through 13 transactions between February and May this year. 'In this case, he did not receive any returns and was instead asked to pay a 20 percent 'tax' to withdraw the funds. He refused after suspecting it was a scam. 'As a result, the businessman lost over RM2.2 million, comprising his savings and money borrowed from friends,' he said. He added that the victim lodged a police report at the Maran police headquarters yesterday, and the case is being investigated under Section 420 of the Penal Code for cheating. — Bernama