Junko Utada

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Keiko Fuji (藤 圭子 Fuji Keiko), real name Junko Utada (宇多田純子 Utada Junko, Born July 5, 1951 in Iwate Prefecture, Japan), was a popular Enka female singer. She had success in the 1960s and 1970s with her ballad-type songs.

She is also the mother of one of the currently most popular female singers in Japan, Utada Hikaru, and is the wife of Teruzane Utada, a producer.

She was caught with more than $420,000 in cash at John F Kennedy International Airport in New York in March, according to the U.S. document search engine The Smoking Gun. The search engine said on its website Friday that screeners at the airport discovered the money in the carry-on luggage of Fuji, a former enka or Japanese ballad singer, as she waited to board an America West flight to Las Vegas on March 6.

During questioning, Fuji, whose real name is Junko Utada, denied any wrongdoing and said the money came partly from gambling winnings. "A forfeiture complaint filed by federal prosecutors noted that the money — 4,149 $100 bills — was bundled, wrapped in paper, and secured with rubber bands," the Smoking Gun said. "Agents also recovered some Australian and Canadian currency, for a total seizure of $421,489.44, according to the September 25 complaint." Prosecutors seeking her forfeiture of the money alleged that it represents proceeds of drug sales or was intended to be used to buy drugs. But she has filed a "claim of ownership" with the Drug Enforcement Agency for the funds to retrieve the money. Fuji's office said the money was seized but the amount of money and other details are under study. It also added that the money was not drug-related.

Fuji gave an exclusive interview on the Japanese news-variety TV show Sutamen on October 22 in an effort to clear her name. She insisted the money was not drug-related and was for her own use at Las Vegas. In an effort to stress how normal it was for her to becarrying such a large sum of cash, she hardly helped her reputation by saying she had spent some 500 million yen in first-class air tickets and hotel bills over the previous five years.

This section documents a current event. Information may change rapidly as the event progresses.

On September 27, 2006, Junko, was reported to be battling with the DEA to take back money that was seized from her by the DEA, who is claiming it is drug money. A federal court document that was made public by The Smoking Gun states that Junko was in JFK Airport in New York waiting for a flight from NY to Las Vegas when her carry-on luggage was examined by TSA officials who found more than $400,000 in her luggage, and that apparently raised red flags with the TSA because TSA officials then notified DEA officials. When DEA officials got on the scene, they noticed Junko was "yelling into a telephone" and that she looked "extremely nervous and physically ill." DEA agents interviewed her and found two sets of checks that was not in Junko's name. She stated to DEA agents that she did not have her daughter's phone number nor any other family's number to verify her statements regarding employment, illness and the origin of the money. After the interview, the money was seized and brought to a DEA office inside JFK and a drug sniffing dog arrived and alerted DEA agents to the money, which indicate that the money "bore trace amounts of controlled substances." TSG reports that, through counsel, Junko has filed a "claim of ownership" with the DEA for the seized funds and requests the DOJ to initiate judicial forfeiture proceedings so the deposition of the money is litigated. ^[1]

http://www.japantoday.com/jp/news/385802