Former MUFG Employee Steals ¥1.7-1.8 Billion from 100 Boxes; Tokyo Probes Manila Shootings; Six Pachinko Execs Arrested for Vote-Buying

A former employee of Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group (MUFG) Bank has admitted to stealing between 1.7 billion and 1.8 billion yen worth of cash and gold bars from approximately 100 safe deposit boxes. The woman, aged 46, revealed during her trial at the Tokyo District Court that the theft was motivated by losses incurred from foreign exchange (FX) trading and horse racing. She apologized for causing distrust in the financial industry and acknowledged that she repeatedly committed the thefts due to a desensitized sense of wrongdoing. The case is scheduled to conclude in September. Separately, the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department has launched an investigation into the fatal shooting of two Japanese tourists in Manila, Philippines, earlier in August. Authorities suspect the involvement of a Japanese national in Japan who allegedly acted as the mastermind behind the killings. The police have formed a task force to identify and apprehend this individual amid indications that the crime was premeditated. Additionally, six executives from a Tokyo-based pachinko parlor operating company were arrested on suspicion of violating Japan's Public Offices Election Law. They are accused of promising cash payments of 3,000 to 4,000 yen to about 60 employees across 17 pachinko parlors in one prefecture and six others in exchange for votes for Yasuhisa Abe, a Liberal Democratic Party candidate who ran unsuccessfully in the July Upper House election. The arrests followed investigations into vote-buying allegations, with evidence suggesting the executives instructed store managers to distribute voting instructions and collect reports on voting status. Furthermore, three individuals identified as de facto managers of a financial company involved in Philippine investments were re-arrested on suspicion of fraud for allegedly collecting approximately 46 billion yen from investors under false pretenses.