JAPAN, Dec 17 (NNN-NHK) – The head of MUFG Bank, said yesterday, his bank is considering penalising its executives, including himself, as he apologised over the alleged theft by a former employee of more than one billion yen ($6.5 million) from customers’ safe deposit boxes.
“The incident shook the foundations of the banking business, which is built on trust,” MUFG Bank President, Junichi Hanzawa, said at a press conference. “We will do our utmost to dispel the concerns of customers, who use our safe deposit boxes.”
The press conference came, after the revelation last month that, the former employee, who was in charge of managing the spare keys for safe deposit boxes, at some of MUFG Bank’s branches in Tokyo, allegedly stole assets worth between one and two billion yen from some 60 customers.
It was the first press conference by the bank, after it made the incident public in late Nov. Hanzawa said, his bank prioritised dealing with the victims, grasping the extent of the theft and taking preventive measures.
The bank said, it has already begun compensating the victims, but the total amount of stolen assets could exceed the earlier estimate, as it continues to review complaints from a few dozen more customers and police are investigating the case.
The former employee, a woman in her 40’s, admitted to the theft and said, she had no accomplices, according to the bank.
The incident came to light on Oct 31, after the bank received an inquiry from a client, MUFG Bank said, adding that, it fired the employee on Nov 14.
Among preventive measures, the bank said, it will store the spare keys for safe deposit boxes at its headquarters rather than at branches.
The president said, the bank will continue to investigate the scandal to clarify managerial responsibility over the matter.
The incident adds to the series of scandals springing up in the country’s finance industry in recent months.
A former employee of Nomura Securities Co. was indicted in Nov, for allegedly stealing 18 million yen in cash, from the house of company clients – a couple in their 80s – in Hiroshima, western Japan, in July and setting it on fire.
The financial watchdog has, since Sept, been investigating a Tokyo Stock Exchange official on suspicion of insider trading, by leaking undisclosed information on multiple companies’ stocks to a relative.– NNN-NHK
