Gangster extorted money from Kotomitsuki

Sources close to Tokyo police and the Sumo Association say not only the wrestler, Kotomitsuki, but other people who work in sumo are caught up in illegal gambling.

According to the sources, a man belonging to a sumo stable acted as an intermediary for the betting on baseball games.

In December last year, they say, Kotomitsuki asked the intermediary to pay him his gambling winnings worth tens of thousands of dollars.

But the intermediary told Kotomitsuki to get the money from another man, who is also employed in sumo.

Kotomitsuki did as instructed, but the other man's brother then appeared and threatened to reveal the wrestler's gambling activities unless he paid hush money.

The brother, a gangster and former sumo wrestler, extorted about 30-thousand dollars, and later tried to make Kotomitsuki pay more than one-million dollars.

Police want Sumo association to shun gangsters

Police are seeking to put Japan's sumo rings off limits to gangsters, after it came to light that senior members of crime syndicates had watched bouts from special seats.

The issue made headlines this week when police revealed that a total 55 members of a crime group had watched bouts from ringside seats at last July's Nagoya grand sumo tournament. The scandal came on top of a similar case in which the head of another crime syndicate watched bouts from ringside during this January's Tokyo tourney.

These seats are usually allotted only to individuals and businesses that make large donations to the Sumo Association. But the gang members had managed to acquire the tickets, which were originally arranged by 2 stable masters.

Police say they will step up monitoring to shut gangsters out of grand tournament venues in Tokyo, Osaka, Nagoya and Fukuoka, as well as those for regional tours.

They also plan to ask the Sumo association to provide seminars for stable masters and wrestlers to raise awareness of the problem.