CHIBA (TR) – Chiba Prefectural Police have arrested the former accountant of a lodge in Minamiboso City who is suspected of embezzling more than 20 million yen, reports Fuji News Network (Jan. 27).
Thus far, police have accused Atsuko Kawakami, 66, of pocketing 127,000 yen in cash paid by customers at the lodge in March 2019.
In carrying out the ruse, she collected the payments from the customers but failed to record the transactions in the account book.
The suspect is believed to have used the same means to embezzle about 22 million yen over a 20-year period though 2018.
“I did it to cover debt and compensate for past embezzlement,” Kawakami was quoted by police in admitting to the allegations.
The lodge, which was once an elementary school, opened in 1997. Kawakami began managing the books the following year.
The matter emerged during a settlement of accounts in 2018. During the examination, the misappropriations were uncovered.
