Former Bank Employee Allegedly Manipulated Pawnshop Interest Payments to Secure Stolen Gold Ingots

In Tokyo, a former employee of MUFG Bank, Yukari Imamura, is under suspicion for committing massive thefts from customers’ safe deposit boxes. The investigations suggest that Imamura stole assets worth approximately ¥1.7 billion from at least 60 customers, with a significant portion of the value coming from gold ingots estimated at ¥700 million.

Authorities believe that Imamura routinely paid interest fees to several pawnshops where she deposited the stolen gold ingots. This strategy was reportedly aimed at preventing pawnshops from taking ownership of the gold due to non-payment of fees, in accordance with laws that allow the transfer of pawned property to the pawnbroker after three months.

Once the bank discovered the thefts, it managed to recover all of the pawned gold ingots that had been deposited. Meanwhile, investigations have also revealed that the cash obtained from the thefts was used for foreign exchange margin trading and betting on horse races, endeavors in which Imamura sustained losses of at least ¥1 billion.

Imamura explained to police that her decision to steal gold ingots was motivated by their potential to be quickly converted into cash. The stolen gold was intended to replenish cash withdrawals from safe deposit boxes, indicating a calculated plan to exploit the bank’s security system for rapid liquidity.