GIFU (TR) – The vehicle for a male accountant who went missing after he acknowledged playing a role in the misappropriation of around 20 million yen was found on Sunday with a corpse inside, police said, reports the Gifu Shimbun (May 17).
On May 17, the vehicle, which had caught fire, was found on a prefectural road in Gero City. Due to burns, the gender of the corpse is not known.
However, the license plate revealed that the vehicle belongs to the accountant, 52, who presided over the books for the Gero Onsen Gassho Village resort area through the end of this past March.
According to the city, a total of 20 million yen was found to be missing during a review of accounts last year.
On May 16, officials from the city interviewed the accountant. During the discussion, he admitted to misappropriating a portion of the money.
However, his whereabouts became unknown after he left to retrieve documents that he claimed were relevant to the matter at his residence.
When he could not be reached over the telephone at around 4:00 p.m. that day, the city reported him missing to the Gero Police Station.
The city previously said the misappropriation involved the use of fictitious vendors. For example, names of contractors that didn’t exist were listed on paperwork as payees for various work, including roof repair.
Police are now working to identify the body.
