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Osaka: Ex-postal employee suspected of embezzling 130,000 stamps

OSAKA (TR) – Osaka Prefectural Police have arrested a former employee at a post office in Sakai City for allegedly embezzling more than 100,000 postage stamps, reports Jiji Press (Dec. 1).

Between September 2017 and June 2018, Taisuke Kawasaki, 56, allegedly took around 133,000 postage stamps with a face value of 1,000 yen while he worked in the general affairs department of the Sakai-Naka Post Office.

Kawasaki converted the stamps — valued at about 130 million yen — into cash by mailing them in 17 shipments to a ticket shop in Saitama Prefecture, police said.

Upon Kawasaki’s arrest on suspicion of corporate embezzlement on Tuesday, police did not reveal whether he admitted to the allegations.

A postal employee in Osaka Prefecture allegedly embezzled 130,000 postage stamps

“We will prevent a recurrence”

According to police, the stamps in question are sold in advance to companies that send a lot of mail.

Kawasaki is believed to have taken the stamps before they were postmarked, police said.

According to the Kinki branch of Japan Post, the embezzlement was discovered during an investigation by the National Tax Agency in July.

In November, Kawasaki was dismissed from his post. A complaint was also lodged with police.

The Kinki branch issued an apology for the matter. “Thorough guidance, we will prevent a recurrence,” a representative said.