KANAGAWA (TR) – Kanagawa Prefectural Police have arrested a 24-year-old officer over the alleged theft of bank cards from an elderly man last month, reports NHK (Nov. 1).
On October 7, Kazuya Kaburaki, an officer in a transportation division, arrived at the residence of the man, aged in his 80s, in Yokosuka City as a police officer and collected two bank cards.
The cards taken from the victim were later used to withdraw 500,000 yen in cash from an ATM machine at a convenience store in Yokohama City, police said.
“Due to pachinko and entertainment expenses, I was in debt several hundred million yen,” Kaburaki was quoted by police in admitting to the allegations. “I did this other times as well.
Prior to the theft, an accomplice posed a police officer on the telephone and falsely told the victim that an investigation into bank fraud involving the victim’s account was underway. The caller also said that an officer would arrive at the residence.
Upon his arrival, the suspect swapped two fake cards contained in an envelope with the genuine cards while the victim’s attention was diverted.
Kaburaki surfaced as a person of interest in the case after an examination of security camera footage shot inside the convenience store.
“with this being an outrageous incident, we apologize deeply to the victim and the citizens of the prefecture,” said a supervisor for the Kanagawa Prefectural Police.
