Act on Prevention of Transfer of Criminal Proceeds

In order to implement the measure under the provisions of the following Article (hereinafter referred to as a "measure to prevent criminal use of accounts, etc."), a police officer, under the direction of the Chief of Prefectural Police Headquarters of the prefectural police to which the police officer belongs, may present to the specified business operators listed in the following items a certificate proving the police officer's status and a document specified by National Public Safety Commission Rules (including a measure using an electronic data processing system or another method utilizing information and communications technology that is specified by National Public Safety Commission Rules as equivalent to such presentation), and request them to open or establish an account, etc. for measures to prevent criminal use (meaning an account or equivalent thereof (hereinafter referred to as an "account, etc.") that is opened or established under the contract prescribed in each of the following items between the Chief of Prefectural Police Headquarters and the specified business operator listed in that item in order to receive the provision of services pertaining to that contract, and with respect to which, as to the account holder and other matters of the account, etc. displayed or recorded on a passbook, card or other item pertaining to the account, etc., measures are taken so that the counterparty to the measure to prevent criminal use of accounts, etc. and other persons cannot infer that the account, etc. is used for the measure to prevent criminal use of accounts, etc.; the same applies hereinafter).

a specified business operator listed in Article 2, paragraph (2), items (i) through (xv) and (xxxvii) (referred to as a "deposit-taking business operator" in Article 26, paragraph (1) and Article 32, paragraph (4), item (i)): a deposit contract prescribed in the right-hand column of the row for persons listed in Article 2, paragraph (2), items (i) through (xxxviii) in the Appended Table (referred to simply as a "deposit contract" in Article 26, paragraph (1));

a specified business operator listed in Article 2, paragraph (2), item (xxx)-2 (hereinafter referred to in this item and Article 27, paragraph (1) as an "issuer of high-value electronically transferable prepaid payment instruments"): a contract under which the issuer of high-value electronically transferable prepaid payment instruments allows a customer to use high-value electronically transferable prepaid payment instruments prescribed in Article 3, paragraph (8) of the Payment Services Act (referred to as a "contract for use of high-value electronically transferable prepaid payment instruments" in Article 27, paragraph (1));

a specified business operator listed in Article 2, paragraph (2), item (xxxi) (hereinafter referred to in this item and Article 28, paragraph (1) as a "funds transfer service provider"): a contract for receiving the provision of services relating to the remittance or receipt thereof by funds transfer transaction with the funds transfer service provider;

an electronic payment instruments service provider: a contract for performing the acts listed in the items of Article 2, paragraph (10) of the Payment Services Act (referred to as an "electronic payment instruments transaction contract" in Article 29, paragraph (1));

a specified business operator listed in Article 2, paragraph (2), items (xxxi)-3 through (xxxi)-5 (referred to as an "electronic payment handling service provider, etc." in Article 30, paragraph (1)): a contract for performing the acts listed in the items of Article 2, paragraph (17) of the Banking Act, the items of Article 85-3, paragraph (2) of the Shinkin Bank Act, or the items of Article 6-4-3, paragraph (2) of the Act on Financial Businesses by Cooperative (referred to as an "electronic payment services use contract" in Article 30, paragraph (1));

a cryptoasset exchange service provider: a contract for performing the acts listed in the items of Article 2, paragraph (15) of the Payment Services Act (referred to as a "cryptoasset exchange contract" in Article 31, paragraph (1)).

Where a police officer finds a person listed in the following items and finds it necessary to prevent deposit accounts, etc. (meaning accounts, etc. opened or established in order to receive the provision of services pertaining to the contract specified in each item of the preceding Article with the specified business operator listed in that item (hereinafter referred to in this Article and Article 32, paragraph (4) as "deposit contract services, etc."); the same applies hereinafter in this Article and Article 19-11, item (iii)) from being used for crimes, the police officer, under the direction of the Chief of Prefectural Police Headquarters of the prefectural police to which the police officer belongs, may take, with respect to that person, measures using accounts, etc. for measures to prevent criminal use or passbooks, etc. for measures to prevent criminal use in order to prevent the deposit accounts, etc. from being used for crimes, such as transferring, delivering or providing passbooks, cards, information necessary for receiving deposit contract services, etc., and other things necessary for receiving those deposit contract services, etc. pertaining to accounts, etc. for measures to prevent criminal use (hereinafter referred to as "passbooks, etc. for measures to prevent criminal use"), or accepting the entrustment of carrying out a property transfer using specified services prescribed in that paragraph (referred to simply as a "property transfer using specified services" in item (ii) and Article 19-6, paragraph (4), item (ii)) and providing information necessary for receiving property in accounts, etc. for measures to prevent criminal use (hereinafter referred to in this Article as "account-related information"). In this case, the police officer may, to the extent found necessary for properly implementing the measure, conceal or misrepresent the police officer's name, status and other matters, the fact that the passbooks, etc. for measures to prevent criminal use or the account-related information pertain to accounts, etc. for measures to prevent criminal use, and other facts pertaining to the measure.

a person who solicits persons, or induces persons by advertisement or a similar method, to transfer, deliver or provide deposit passbooks, etc. prescribed in Article 26, paragraph (1), information for use of high-value electronically transferable prepaid payment instruments prescribed in Article 27, paragraph (1), exchange transaction cards, etc. prescribed in Article 28, paragraph (1), information for electronic payment instruments transactions prescribed in Article 29, paragraph (1), information for use of electronic payment services prescribed in Article 30, paragraph (1), or information for cryptoasset exchange prescribed in Article 31, paragraph (1) (excluding a person found to have a justifiable reason, such as that it is carried out as an ordinary commercial transaction or financial transaction);

a person who requests another person to carry out a property transfer using specified services for consideration, or induces persons by advertisement or a similar method to do so (excluding a person found to have the justifiable reason prescribed in the preceding item).

Where a police officer has taken a measure to prevent criminal use of accounts, etc. and finds it necessary, the police officer may request the specified business operators listed in the items of Article 19-2 for the provision of information on transactions pertaining to accounts, etc. for measures to prevent criminal use and other necessary cooperation.

Where a measure to prevent criminal use of accounts, etc. has been taken and a transfer of property listed in the following items has occurred, the Chief of Prefectural Police Headquarters who directs that measure to prevent criminal use of accounts, etc. must keep in custody the property specified in the relevant item in order to make the return under the provisions of paragraph (1) of the following Article.

a transfer of property to an account, etc. for measures to prevent criminal use: the property pertaining to that transfer;

a transfer of property (money or other property) to a police officer, other than that set out in the preceding item, by receiving consideration for the transfer, delivery or provision of passbooks, etc. for measures to prevent criminal use or for other reasons: the property pertaining to that transfer.

Where there is a risk that the property kept in custody under the provisions of the preceding paragraph will be lost or damaged, or where its custody or return requires excessive expense or effort, the Chief of Prefectural Police Headquarters may liquidate that property and keep in custody the money obtained by that liquidation.

The Chief of Prefectural Police Headquarters who has kept property in custody under the provisions of the preceding Article is to promptly return the property pertaining to that custody (or, where that property is a monetary claim, money equivalent to the value of that monetary claim) to the person who carried out the transfer of property listed in the items of paragraph (1) of that Article that gave rise to that custody (hereinafter referred to as an "act giving rise to custody"). However, where any of the circumstances listed in the following items exists, the property is to be returned promptly after that circumstance has ceased.

There is a risk of hindering the enforcement of the provisions of this Section or the investigation of a crime.

Where the act giving rise to custody is a transfer of property listed in paragraph (1), item (i) of the preceding Article, an action seeking withdrawal of the property pertaining to the account, etc. for measures to prevent criminal use pertaining to that act giving rise to custody has been filed, or procedures for compulsory execution, provisional seizure or provisional disposition are being carried out with respect to a claim pertaining to that property.

Circumstances specified by National Public Safety Commission Rules, in addition to those listed in the preceding two items.

The value or quantity of the property to be returned under the provisions of the preceding paragraph (hereinafter referred to in this paragraph and paragraph (4) as "value, etc.") is, where the custody of that property under the provisions of the preceding Article was carried out in an account, etc. for measures to prevent criminal use, to be the value, etc. at the time that custody started.

The expenses required for the return under the provisions of paragraph (1) are to be borne by the person receiving that return.

In any of the cases listed in the following items, the Chief of Prefectural Police Headquarters may, notwithstanding the provisions of paragraph (2), deduct from the value, etc. of the property to be delivered to the counterparty to the return under the provisions of paragraph (1) the value, etc. of property equivalent to the property pertaining to the transfer prescribed in the relevant item.

Where, before or after the act giving rise to custody, there has been a transfer of property from the account, etc. for measures to prevent criminal use pertaining to that act giving rise to custody, and the counterparty to that return is found to have carried out that transfer.

Where, before or after the act giving rise to custody, a police officer, at the request of another person, carried out a property transfer using specified services from the account, etc. for measures to prevent criminal use pertaining to that act giving rise to custody and thereby made a transfer of property, and the counterparty to that return is found to have made that request.

No interest is to be added to the property returned under the provisions of paragraph (1).