Former Mizuho Bank employee Masashi Sasaki was arrested Jan. 16 on suspicion of embezzling ¥22 million from customers' savings accounts.

Masashi Sasaki from Higashiyoka, Saga Prefecture, 45, is suspected of stealing the money from 25 customers, after claiming the funds were to be transferred from their ordinary accounts into higher-yield time deposits, the sources said.

Tokyo police believe the fraud occurred on more than 80 occasions at several Mizuho Bank branches in Saitama and Tokyo between November 1999 and July 2004, where the suspect had worked, the sources said.

Sasaki allegedly tried to reinstate account balances by repeatedly diverting money from elsewhere but eventually failed to cover ¥300 million that he embezzled through about 20 falsified transactions, the sources said.

The case came to light during an internal probe conducted by the bank after customers contacted it in July 2004.

The Japan Times Weekly: Jan. 21, 2006
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