The blunder occurred on April 8 and was quickly spotted by officials. Initially, the man voluntarily agreed to be questioned by police. But he told them returning the money could prove tricky.<\/p>\n
“I don’t currently have the money and I don’t have anything with property-value at hand,\u201d he explained, according to his lawyer.<\/p>\n
“It’s actually difficult to return it,” he added, but he vowed to take responsibility. “I’ve already moved the money. It can’t be returned. It cannot be undone. I will not run. I will pay for my crime,” he reportedly said.<\/p>\n
On May 12, municipal officials sued the man in the Yamaguchi District Court, demanding the return of the funds.<\/p>\n
We will do our utmost to take back the large amount of public money that is important for our residents,\u201d <\/strong>said Mayor Norihiko Hanada, according to the Shimbun.<\/em> Hanada apologized to residents for the banking error that led to the man\u2019s illicit windfall, as he bowed deeply in front of media.<\/p><\/blockquote>\nFollow the Money<\/strong><\/h2>\nThe mayor said the mistake occurred when staff sent a file containing the distribution list to the bank. But it only included the total amount of the subsidy and the name of the first person on the list.<\/p>\n
While the recipient has not been identified by Japanese media, it\u2019s a good bet that his name occurs very early on in the Japanese alphabet.<\/p>\n
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Meanwhile, local police have launched a criminal investigation. This revealed that more than 600,000 yen (US$46,000) was withdrawn from the man\u2019s account the day he received the money. He subsequently withdrew roughly the same amount every day for about two weeks, according to local media reports.<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\nOfficials said the man was a newcomer to Abu, having moved to the town in October 2020. He lived alone and worked at a local store. He resigned from his job in April.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s unclear whether the unexpected appearance of an entire town\u2019s Covid-relief package in his personal account was a factor in this decision.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
A Japanese man who mistakenly received 46.3 million yen (US$358,140) in Covid-19 relief funds has blown all the money on black market online gambling sites, according to his lawyer. Officials in the southern town of Abu, Yamaguchi Prefecture, inadvertently sent the unnamed man a payment that was intended for distribution among 463 households, reports The […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":36,"featured_media":214039,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[81881,19],"tags":[],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n
Man in Japan Gets $358k COVID-Relief Error, Gambles It All, Now Missing<\/title>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n