Susumu Ishii (Japanese: 石井 進, 1924–1991) was the second kaicho (godfather) of the Inagawa-kai yakuza gang in Japan.
In World War II, he was assigned to a kaiten unit of the Japanese Navy but was not given the chance to take part in a suicide attack.
After serving his time in prison Ishii spoke to the media, saying; "We cannot succeed in the yakuza world unless we are active and aggressive until our early forties.
Through various loans, banking deals, and real estate scams, he accumulated assets of over $4 billion which he invested in projects around the world, including in Korea and the United States.
[2] The Yomiuri Shimbun newspaper stated, "Almost every money transaction was related to Susumu Ishii in the 80s and 90s."
[4] But as the Japanese economic bubble burst, Ishii was no longer "the world's richest gangster".