The Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department have referred Shion Tsurubo of JO1 to prosecutors on allegations that he was involved in illegal gambling via an online casino. In their papers, the police are in favor of “strict punishment”, ideally an indictment.
Shion has admitted that the allegation is true, saying that, according to investigators, he was not fully aware of the illegality of online gambling. “I became obsessed with online gambling for a while because it’s so easy to access with a smartphone.”
It is suspected that he used his smartphone to access the foreign online casino K8 while on Japanese soil from May 31 through June 27 of last year, playing roulette several times. Shion’s involvement in online gambling was discovered through an investigation into the proceeds of crime from another case. Tokyo police interviewed him earlier this year on a voluntary basis.
Since December 2023, Shion deposited a total of about ¥15 million in an online casino, according to police. He said that he stopped accessing the online casino last August after learning from the news that gambling via an online casino is a crime. Shion believes that he lost about ¥7.1 million during the course of his gambling.
On May 31, LAPONE Entertainment, JO1’s management company, announced that Shion had illegally gambled online in the past. Due to his deep remorse and his request to suspend activities, he was suspended for ten days. During this time, Shion was involved in rehabilitation, compliance, and ethics programs under the guidance of external experts to prevent reoccurrence. The company also issued a warning to all its talent on the matter, and will hold more compliance training for them.
