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Osaka civic employee used ¥40 million in illegal funds to ‘impress female sex workers’

Hiroaki Izumigawa allegedly embezzled funds to impress women working in the sex industry
Hiroaki Izumigawa allegedly embezzled funds to impress women working in the sex industry

OSAKA (TR) – Osaka Prefectural Police on Monday announced the arrest and prosecution of a former civic employee who used nearly 40 million yen in embezzled and fraudulently obtained funds for adult entertainment, reports the Nikkei Shimbun (Jan. 27).

According to the Suminoe Police Station, Hiroaki Izumigawa, a 49-year-old former staff member of a staff railroad division of the Osaka Transportation Labor Union, is under prosecution at the Osaka District Court on charges of corporate embezzlement for unjustly withdrawing a total of 8.4 million yen on 11 occasions from accounts between March and December of 2008.

The suspect served as a divisional chief in overseeing the funds, which are union dues of employees at the Osaka Municipal Transportation Bureau.

Izumigawa, who has reportedly admitted to the allegations, spent the funds at establishments in the fuzoku (sex-related) industry. “I did it to impress female sex workers,” police quoted the suspect.

Izumigawa is also under prosecution for fraudulently obtaining an additional 30 million yen in loans from colleagues for “medical bills” for his mother, which was a false claim.

According to the Sankei Shimbun (Jan. 26), the union discovered that money was missing from the accounts in July of 2009. Two months later, a claim was filed against Izumigawa, who was arrested in June of 2014.