TOKYO (AP) — Japan ‘s Imperial palace said Thursday that it has fired an employee for stealing cash totaling 3.6 million yen ($24,900) from Emperor Naruhito and his family over more than a year.
The Imperial Household Agency identified the suspect as an employee in their 20s who was one of about 80 attendants assigned to the palace or the agency building to serve daily needs of Naruhito and his family. The theft is an embarrassment for the royal household and its officials said it’s been unheard of in modern history.
The case surfaced in March during an internal investigation by the IHA that started in January when an assistant manager of the department noticed a discrepancy between the cash in the safe and the accounting book.
When an agency official detected the loss of 30,000 yen ($207) in late March, the suspect who just ended an overnight duty was asked about it and admitted stealing cash, citing financial difficulty, the agency said.
In all, the suspect admitted to stealing a total of 3.6 million yen in a number of occasions from November 2023 to late March this year, and later returned the money by mid-April, it said.
The money was part of 324 million yen ($2.24 million) annual budget allocated as living expenses for the emperor, his wife Masako, their daughter Princess Aiko and Naruhito’s parents — former Emperor Akihito and Empress Michiko.
The IHA said it had filed a criminal complaint to the palace police and formally dismissed the employee. The assistant manager in his 40s, who initially noticed the cash irregularity in January, was given a one-month salary cut over his lax accounting management, the IHA said.
IHA chief Yasuhiko Nishimura said the theft by the employee as a public servant and a staff serving the Imperial family was “unthinkable” and “extremely regrettable,” and apologized to the emperor and his family, NHK public television reported.
He pledged to tighten discipline among the palace staff, according to media reports.