TOKYO (TR) – Following revelations that a Mitsubishi UFJ Bank employee was dismissed for stealing over 1 billion yen worth of valuables from safe deposit boxes, it has been discovered that the employee used a spare key to gain access to the boxes.
As previously reported, a female managerial employee in her 40s opened safe deposit boxes while working at the Nerima and Tamagawa branches of Mitsubishi UFJ Bank and stole money and valuables inside for four and a half years, reports NHK (Dec. 15).
The bank has said that the amount of lost assets is over 1 billion yen. Last month, it dismissed the employee for disciplinary reasons.
According to sources, the former employee managed the keys to the safe deposit boxes. It has been discovered that she used her authority as a manager to break the seal on the spare key and open the safe deposit boxes.
To open a safe deposit box at these branches, two keys were needed — a bank key and a key given to the customer. The spare keys were kept at the branch, but the former manager who stole the money and valuables was the person in charge of managing those keys.
The bank cited flaws in its key management methods and measures to prevent fraud. It plans to revise its operations so that spare keys will be managed centrally at its headquarters rather than at each branch.
President Junichi Hanzawa and other senior executives are expected to hold the first press conference since the problem came to light soon to explain the details of what happened.
According to sources, Mitsubishi UFJ Bank plans to hold its first press conference since the problem came to light on Monday afternoon. President Junichi Hanzawa is expected to apologize and explaining the details of the problem.
