I identified another individual behind the app Album Collection, on which illegal sexual images are traded.

(Illustration by qnel)

I have been working with white hat hackers to investigate Album Collection, an app where child sexual abuse material and other illegal sexual images are being bought and sold.

We found the identity of the person responsible for running Album Collection: Keisuke Nitta, the former president of “infotop” (now First Penguin), a Japanese company that operates an affiliate service. Tansa Editor-in-Chief Makoto Watanabe and I tried to visit Nitta at the Tokyo apartment he owned, but he wasn’t home.

However, a breakthrough set things in motion once more. We found another individual who was extremely close to Nitta and who held the key to the operation of the app.

Was Nitta really the head of Max?

Album Collection’s operating company — ostensibly — was Eclipse Incorporated, located in Hawaii. However, we thought Eclipse Incorporated was nothing more than a shell company.

The next company we found was “Max Payment Gateway Services” in Singapore. This company had operated apps called “Photo Capsule” and “Video Container.”

Both apps were identical to Album Collection, from the way they worked to their advertising copy, even their internal data and Google Analytics information. In other words, Max Payment Gateway Services was operating Album Collection as the successor to Photo Capsule and Video Container. Trading child sexual abuse images and other illegal sexual images also occurred on the previous two apps. It’s possible that Max Payment Gateway Services created a series of similar apps under different names in order to evade detection by the police.

The representative of Max Payment Gateway Services was listed as “KEISUKE NITTA” on the former website for Video Container. Who was he?

I found Nitta’s identity when I discovered “MAX PAYMENT GATEWAY SERVICES UK LIMITED,” which seemed to be an affiliated company of Max Payment Gateway Services in the UK. He was the former president of the Japanese company “infotop” (now First Penguin). I visited an apartment in Tokyo owned by Nitta, but he didn’t live there.

However, I had a suspicion.

On the Video Container website where I had found the name “KEISUKE NITTA” listed as the representative, Nitta’s title had been rewritten multiple times, including as “representative” or “operation manager.” Sometimes, another non-Japanese name had been used.

Was Nitta really the head of Max Payment Gateway Services?

The Singapore government’s “BizFile”

Max Payment Gateway Services was registered in Singapore, so I decided to obtain the company’s “BizFile,” corporate information issued and maintained by the Singapore government.

According to BizFile, Max Payment Gateway Services was founded on Dec. 21, 2012. Its main business areas were listed as marketing, advertising, and consulting.

Notably, Nitta was not listed as president. Instead, the president was “TAKAHAMA KENICHI.”

The name was familiar: Kenichi Takahama was the founder of infotop, of which Nitta had also served as president.

The charismatic manager with “gang theory”

As noted in the previous article, infotop’s business was based on affiliate marketing (advertising on a contingency fee basis). According to the company’s website, as of 2018, it had over 3 million affiliate service members. Total transaction volume exceeded 15 billion yen (about $100 million).

Kenichi Takahama was a self-made businessperson who had built infotop himself.

In 2014, Takahama co-authored a book titled “How to Find Ways to Make Profit, by Five People Who Achieved Their Goal: The Start” (Forest Publishing). The book teaches readers, based on advice from exemplary businesspeople who have grown million-dollar businesses in under 10 years, how to generate business ideas.

In the book, as quoted below, Takahama’s profile is filled with words touting his “charisma.”

Kenichi Takahama

 

The former president of infotop Inc. Takahama is the talented founder, who, along with Issei Sugano, grew infotop into an industry-leading company, overtaking rival ASP within a few months of its launch, and was the leader of the infotop Group, which led dozens of related companies.

 

Takahama left the management of infotop Group to the current management team and left other affiliated companies to his successors early on, while he himself has semi-retired and moved to Singapore. Takahama’s management skills, which combine calm analysis and bold decision-making, are highly regarded by the business community, and he still has many fans even after his retirement from business management. In particular, his unique management theory — born from his thorough risk management concepts and called “Gang Theory” by some — has found many followers among current managers.

Learning from a bowl of ramen

The book described Takahama’s background and ideas.

Takahama started his first business when he was 23 years old. At the time, hiring was stagnant, creating a boom in student entrepreneurship. Takahama saved up funds after graduating university and started his business by investing in a tanning salon run by an older graduate. After that, he managed stores such as video rental shops and comic book cafes.

He co-founded infotop in 2006. By 2010, the company had over 1 million affiliate-related services members; Takahama had helped it grow rapidly.

In a chapter titled “The habit of searching for business you can do without costs,” Takahama’s obsession with business was evident.

“If you spend 700 yen (about $5) at a ramen shop, you have to learn as much as you spend. You have to look at every corner of the restaurant and simulate [how the business is run]. If you just eat the ramen and say, ‘Ah, that was good, I’m full,’ that’s not worth anything. In short, it’s not an investment.”

The book Takahama co-authored described the process of starting one’s own business.

The response from Album Collection

Takahama is welcome to preach his business know-how. However, Album Collection — which uses child sexual abuse videos and illegal sexual images for its business — must immediately shut down its app.

I sent questions to confirm the facts I had learned to Album Collection’s contact address. I also asked if they would continue to operate, given the damage their app was causing.

I addressed the questions to Kenichi Takahama and Keisuke Nitta.

I was certain that the two were close. Both were named as executives of infotop around 2011. Takahama had set a group photo as the profile picture on his social media account: He is at the center of the group, and Nitta is smiling at the edge of the two rows.

However, Takahama had always preceded Nitta. It was Takahama who founded infotop. According to BizFile, it was Takahama who founded Max Payment Gateway Services in 2012.

Therefore, I addressed my questions to Takahama first.

Album Collection responded as follows. They did not deny the information I have reported in this series. However, they seemed unwilling to take down Album Collection.

Album Collection does not permit the sending or receiving of any illegal content. The operation of our service is as described in the Specified Commercial Transactions. We always remove reported content within 24 hours.

In addition, we inform the authorities about users who send or receive illegal content, as stated in our Terms of Use. Album Collection will alert users and remind them that sending and receiving illegal contents in our service is illegal, and we will also strengthen patrols.

Album Collection Support

I did not receive a response to the questions I addressed to Takahama himself.

Moved to Singapore

Together with Tansa’s Editor-in-Chief Watanabe, I visited the Tokyo address listed as Takahama’s base in Japan. However, as with Nitta, Takahama was not there.

Nitta too had moved abroad: In 2014, after stepping down as president of infotop, he moved to Singapore. The following year, he moved again, this time to Malaysia. I found information that, in 2020, he spoke at an event for Japanese living abroad. It seems he was managing restaurants and other businesses in Malaysia, but the Japanese-style pub he opened in Kuala Lumpur closed in 2022.

If Takahama and Nitta were not in Japan, I would have no choice but to follow them. Many children and women continue to fall victim to Album Collection.

To be continued.

(Originally published in Japanese on Oct. 12, 2023.)

Uploaded and Re-Uploaded: All articles