TOKYO (TR) – Tokyo Metropolitan Police have arrested a 52-year-old former executive of a SoftBank subsidiary on suspicion of occupational embezzlement, with total stolen funds estimated at 460 million yen, reports NHK (Oct. 1).
Hitoshi Murai, the former managing director of Shinjuku-based eMnet Japan, is accused of illegally siphoning 170 million yen from the company between August and December of last year.
According to investigators and an internal company report, Murai — who was serving as the head of finance at the time — fabricated corporate loans to steal the cash. He allegedly stamped bogus contracts using the company’s official representative seal without authorization, presenting the fake documents to accounting staff who then wired the funds into his personal bank account across seven separate transactions.
Authorities have not disclosed whether Murai admits to the allegations.
The scheme finally unraveled in January of this year. An unsuspecting employee sent an email inquiring about the loan repayment deadlines and copied the company president on the message, prompting an internal probe and a subsequent criminal complaint.
Police believe Murai blew the embezzled money on foreign exchange (FX) trading. Investigators suspect he had been repeatedly using the same tactic since January of last year, accumulating 460 million yen in damages over a 12-month period.
