Notorious Sugar Baby’s Twisted Million Dollar Obsession Ends In A Prison Sentence

Many often insist that money is not the key to happiness, but there is no denying that having it is better than not. Money allows individuals to do the things they want, and for K-Pop stans that often involves buying things from or seeing our favorite artists.

However, any strong enough desire can end badly if someone allows it to consume them.

This recently happened to a 25-year-old Japanese woman whose obsession ultimately led to a prison sentence.

Mai Watanabe, also known as “Itadaki-joshi Riri-chan” (Sugar Baby Riri-chan), led what appeared to be a lavish lifestyle, sharing tips with those wishing to follow in her footsteps.

In addition to selling the reported ¥19.9 million yen ($133,221) earned from selling her manual, The Manual That Makes You All Money By Sugar Baby Riri-chan Who Receives 10M A Month, Watanabe reportedly collected 300 million yen (over $2 million) in total from her sugar babying.

Despite this large amount of money, Watanabe’s life was not what it seemed.

In a post made on X in July 2023, Watanabe revealed that she did not have any money, admitting to spending it at host clubs. It was revealed that she had specifically given thousands to a male host named Tanaka Hiroshi, who showed off the money she gave him in a video.

The money Watanabe made was also not earned as she claimed, leading to her arrest for allegedly conning $182,500 from a 50-year-old male customer. It was later revealed that she had allegedly scammed a reported 160 million yen (approximately $1.08 million) from other men.

In addition, another woman was arrested for scamming men using Watanabe’s tips and Hiroshi was arrested for suspicion of violating the organized crime punishment law by accepting money from her.

Ultimately, The Nagoya District Court found Watanabe, guilty of defrauding three men out of a total of 150 million yen ($970,000), sentencing her to nine years in prison and a 8 million yen ($51,220) fine.

When speaking about her crimes, Watanabe claimed that she “wanted to be needed by someone,” as an explanation for falling in love with Hiroshi.

At the time of her arrest, Watanabe was living in a capsule hotel, showing just how far she went for her obsession.