US slaps sanctions on Yakuza crime syndicate newcomer, Kobe Yamaguchi-gumi

Kenichi Shinoda, the boss of Japan's largest yakuza gang, the Yamaguchi-gumi. Photo: AFP.

TOKYO: The US on Friday took aim at a relative newcomer to Japan’s Yakuza crime network, slapping financial sanctions on the Kobe Yamaguchi-gumi network it says uses legitimate businesses to launder money.

The move freezes any US assets of the organization and three of its bosses and prevents US financial institutions from doing business with them, in another step by the US Treasury Department’s to cut off Yakuza financing and profit centres.