TOKYO (TR) – Tokyo Metropolitan Police last week arrested a former Mitsubishi UFJ Bank employee over the alleged theft of gold bars from the safety deposit boxes of customers, just one part of crime in which the total losses approach 2 billion yen, reports Fuji News Network (Jan. 16).
On January 13, police accused Yukari Imamura, 46, of stealing around 20 kilograms of gold bars — valued at around 260 million yen — from the safe deposit boxes of two male customers at the Nerima branch around September, reports Fuji News Network (Jan. 16).
Imamura worked as a manager at the Nerima and Tamagawa branches who presided over safe deposit boxes. She was scheduled to be transferred to another branch the month after the alleged crime.
Upon her arrest, the suspect admitted to the allegations. “I thought I could use the gold bars to make a large amount of cash to return the cash I stole before my transfer,” she said.
The suspect is believed have used the stolen money and valuables to make up for losses in foreign exchange investments and bets on horse racing.

Kept the gold bars in desk drawers
MUFG believes the amount stolen by Imamura from the safe deposit boxes of around 70 customers at the two branches totals around 1.4 billion yen.
Thus far, MUFG has compensated 40 customers a total of some 700 million yen. The company may file lawsuit seeking damages against Imamura.
Police estimate the total market value of the stolen items will exceed 1.7 billion yen. The crimes were committed over a period extending for four and a half years.
The thefts mainly took place outside of business hours. Imamura kept the gold bars in desk drawers and other locked areas during work hours, police said.
The suspect told police that she cut power to the room where the safe deposit boxes are held, possibly to cover up her crimes.
To gain access to the boxes, she is believed to have used spare keys stored in sealed envelopes. She later used glue to reseal the envelopes.
During the investigation, police found about 800 photos of safe deposit boxes on Imamura’s phone. She is believed to have used the each photo to mark the state of a safe deposit box before a theft in order to return it to that condition thereafter.
Security cameras
To take responsibility for this incident, MUFG announced that it will reduce president Junichi Hanzawa’s monthly salary by 30 percent for three months.
After the case emerged last year, the Financial Services Agency requested that the bank to measures to prevent a recurrence. As a result, the bank will instal security cameras inside the safe deposit box rooms.