TOKYO (TR) – A Tokyo court on Thursday handed an eight-year prison term to a former deputy branch manager at Sumitomo Mitsui Banking prison term over an account manipulation scam in which the damage to the company was around one billion yen, reports TV Asahi (Mar. 9).
The Tokyo District Court ruled that Hiroshi Minamibashi, 55, a former deputy manager of the bank’s Omori Branch in Ota Ward, “abused knowledge, experience and authority gained through working at the bank. It was an ingenious crime.”
Between 2011 and June of last year, Minamibashi received 960 million yen through the fraudulent manipulation of accounts via computer transactions.
Upon his arrest last year, Minamibashi admitted to the allegations. “I used the money for mistresses and school expenses for my children,” the suspect was quoted by the Omori Police Station.
The matter emerged after the National Tax Agency launched an investigation in the middle of June. Minamibashi was fired by the bank on July 6.
