Verybest Law Firm's Attorney Hitomi Sugino Obtains Acquittal in Fraud Accomplice (Joint Principal) Case

Attorney Hitomi Sugino of Verybest Law Firm (Head Office: Minato-ku, Tokyo; Representatives: Attorneys Masaru Sakai, Kentaro Asano, Tatsuya Hagiwara; Website: https://www.vbest.jp/) has obtained an acquittal in a fraud accomplice case she led as chief counsel. The verdict has been finalized without appeal from the prosecutor.

【Background of the Case】

The client was indicted as an accomplice to fraud, accused of defrauding a store of products using a third party's cashless payment service, along with an acquaintance and an unidentified person.

The client's acquaintance purchased products at the victim store using a third party's cashless payment. Because the client drove the acquaintance to and from the victim store, the client was suspected of being an accomplice in the fraud case. However, the client waited in the car while the acquaintance was shopping and had no fraudulent intent or conspiracy.

In court, the main point of contention was whether the client's act of driving the acquaintance to the store established fraudulent intent and conspiracy with the acquaintance.

The prosecution argued that the client took the acquaintance to the store understanding the fraudulent purpose, thus establishing fraudulent intent, and that a joint principal charge was valid due to mutual understanding and intent. The defense argued that the client was not aware that the acquaintance was committing fraud and had no intention of using the acquaintance's actions as their own, thus arguing for innocence due to lack of fraudulent intent and conspiracy.

The Nagoya District Court stated that there remains reasonable doubt in concluding that the client was aware that the acquaintance would commit fraud when driving them to the victim store. Therefore, it could not establish that the client had fraudulent intent, nor could it establish conspiracy with the acquaintance and the unidentified person, and thus delivered an acquittal.

Regarding this verdict, Attorney Sugino commented, "I am relieved that we were able to secure an acquittal and protect our client's honor. I will continue to devote myself to preventing wrongful convictions."

【About Attorney Hitomi Sugino, who handled this case】

【Profile】

Affiliation: Verybest Law Firm, Tsu Office

Practice Areas:

Divorce & Family Law, Inheritance, Traffic Accidents, Labor Issues, Industrial Accidents, Debt Consolidation, Criminal Defense & Juvenile Cases, Debt Collection, General Civil Matters

URL: https://www.vbest.jp/member/detail/437/

About Verybest Law Firm

Verybest Law Firm is a full-service law firm with 75 offices nationwide (as of April 2026). For individuals, we provide a wide range of legal services related to daily life, such as divorce, labor issues, traffic accidents, criminal matters, inheritance, and school-related issues. For corporations, we offer legal support including advisory services, dispute resolution, labor law, M&A, and international legal affairs.

"We want to be our clients' best partner."

Under this philosophy, all our members sincerely tackle problem-solving.

Official HP: https://www.vbest.jp/

Criminal Cases HP: https://keiji.vbest.jp/

Verybest Law Corporation (Member of: Dai-Ichi Tokyo Bar Association)