TOKYO (TR) – A 42-year-old former assistant manager at a food manufacturing company has been arrested for allegedly siphoning off millions of yen from his employer to cover personal debts and fund his gambling habit, reports TV Saitama (Nov. 11).
Shinsuke Sudo, a resident of Kodaira City, was taken into custody on Wednesday on suspicion of violating the Companies Act.
Sudo, formerly employed by Miyoshi-based Kanto Diet Cook, is accused of ordering 3,000 sheets of gold leaf—entirely unnecessary for his work duties—in two separate incidents in 2021. The unauthorized purchases caused the company a financial loss of 1.23 million yen.
Under questioning, Sudo reportedly admitted to the allegations, telling police he ordered the gold leaf with the intent to resell it. He claimed he was driven by the need to pay off mounting debts and admitted to funneling the proceeds into horse racing and foreign exchange (FX) trading.
However, the scale of the alleged fraud appears to be significantly larger. Police suspect that between March 2021 and February of this year, Sudo placed 95 fraudulent orders totaling 180,000 sheets of gold leaf. Authorities estimate the total damage to the company stands at approximately 75.21 million yen.
The Saitama Prefectural Police are currently investigating the extent of his remaining criminal activities.
