Japanese woman claims Turkish fiance defrauded her
Yumiko Sakagami (R) speaks on Müge Anlı's television show, Istanbul, Türkiye, Oct. 10, 2022. (Courtesy of ATV)


Claiming her fiance deceived her into giving him a large amount of cash, Japanese woman Yumiko Sakagami sought justice on Turkish TV. Sakagami appeared on the show of popular host Müge Anlı, who is known for her exposes on defrauded spouses and locating missing persons through her show on broadcaster ATV.

Sakagami met M.A.T., a Turkish man hailing from the southern province of Gaziantep, when the latter was working in Japan. When the couple decided to get married, she traveled to Türkiye and they got engaged in 2019.

Speaking to Anlı during a live broadcast through an interpreter on Monday, Sakagami said M.A.T. repeatedly borrowed money from her. She said overall, her fiance borrowed about $31,486 (TL 585,000). She claimed that her fiance disappeared after a while without repaying his debts. She also claimed that she later found out that M.A.T. was actually engaged to a woman who he introduced to her as his "cousin." She added that M.A.T. also withdrew money from her bank accounts and discovered that jewelry gifted to her during an engagement ceremony in Gaziantep was "fake."

In a phone-in, M.A.T, denied the claims while Sakagami produced paperwork showing handwritten bonds he signed with the amount of money he borrowed. M.A.T. said he did not sign any papers and broke up with Sakagami after he found out she shoplifted at a supermarket.