CHIBA (TR) – Chiba Prefectural Police have launched an investigation following the theft of more than 275 million yen in cash and other valuables from a residence in Ichikawa City, reports TBS News (Jan. 6).
At around 6:30 p.m. on Thursday, a woman returning home noticed the interior of the residence had been ransacked and alerted police.
It was later revealed that about 250 million yen in cash, six gold bars with a value of 14 million yen, foreign bank notes with an equivalent value of 10 million yen and various jewelry, including a wristwatch and ring (valued at 3.6 million yen), had been stolen.
The woman lives at the residence with her 55-year-old husband. Prior to the discovery, she had been out for about three hours.
Damage to the premises included a broken first-floor window in the living room.
The domestic cash was kept inside paper bags under a desk in a second-floor study. The foreign bank notes and gold bars were inside a safe placed in a drawer of the desk.
According to Jiji Press (Jan. 6), police are investigating whether the case is related to at least 10 other thefts that have taken place in the same general area over the New Year’s holiday. In the these cases, access to the residences was gained via broken windows.
