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Crime Former Kyoto bus driver loses 12m yen retirement bonus over 1000 yen embezzlement

thomas

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After a Supreme Court decision, a former Kyoto City Bus driver reportedly forfeited approximately 12 million yen (around $84,000) in retirement benefits for allegedly taking 1,000 yen (about $7) from a passenger's fare. The 58-year-old had challenged the Kyoto City authorities in court, attempting to reverse the decision to withhold his pension.

According to earlier rulings by lower courts, the driver had been employed since 1993. In February 2022, he was said to have kept a 1,000-yen note handed to him by a passenger rather than placing it into the fare processing machine as required. The Kyoto Municipal Transportation Bureau later discovered the act during a routine review of dashcam footage. In March of that year, they dismissed him from his position and decided to revoke his full retirement payout.




Ex-bus driver in Kyoto loses $84,000 retirement pay for embezzling $7 - The Mainichi

TOKYO -- Following a Supreme Court ruling, a former Kyoto City Bus driver has lost retirement pay of some 12 million yen (about $84,000) for pocketing
mainichi.jp
 
holy crap. The American mind boggles.

Of course, it also seems like an insanely outsized punishment for a working class schmuck; the blatant embezzlement and corruption of my own country's wealthy have weighed heavy on my mind lately.

Perhaps it was a habitual crime but they only caught him red handed once, but I'm a little surprised that the High Court went ahead and reversed the decision... Seems like it even worsens the punishment, because he had the shame of being fired and misfortune of being denied his retirement benefits, but then over a long legal battle he triumphed and got it back... only to have it snatched away yet again, and that was probably the final say in the matter.
 
One that that surprises me is this is international news. I saw it on a CBS news site in America, a local news site. I would wager local staff even in my city sometimes steal and get fired and it will not make international news. The shame in a country like Japan on being on international news would be a bit too much for most I would think. I hear it being "public money" rather than say stealing from a convenience store that makes it more noteworthy.
 
These very harsh sentences for minor misdemeanours are quite common in Japan. I remember hearing of someone being sent to prison for stealing a few yen from a shrine pour encourager les autres.
 
I suppose their thinking is it maintains the safe society we love. I wonder what the most minor crime a foreign resident lost their residency for. Dewi Soekarno being a foreign resident but wealthy and a former national applying to be a national again will of course be forgiven for throwing a glass so just like anywhere else the punishments do not apply to the wealthy.
 
I have a friend who was resident and University professor in Japan for about 10 years. He had a very low opinion of the Japanese police and in particular their deductive skills. He was arrested and detained for several hours questioning for possessing a 'stolen' bicycle for which he had a receipt of purchase.
 

There are bad apples everywhere. I have been cycling here for over twenty years and have never been stopped or interrogated. However, if his bicycle was reported stolen, he might find himself in treacherous waters, with or without proof of purchase.

Local law enforcement takes bicycle theft (esp. mamachari) quite seriously.

Thread 'Stealing A Bicycle in Japan'

For a great party town like Tokyo and Yokohama, it still amazes me that, in 2005, this great cosmopolitan megalopolis (and all of Japan for that matter) stops running their public transportation at about 1am. Therefore, if one wants to party with friends where a more than 15 or 30 minute train ride is involved, one must be prepared to stop at around eleven or eleven-thirty and head for home or else risk spending their time in an all night coffee shop or buying a hotel room until the first trains start again at about 4:50am. Hell, most partying has just started by the time you have to...

Thread 'Japanese police and foreigners'

Recently a (white caucasian) work-colleague of mine was bashed on the head in a nightclub while he was talking civily to a Japanese girl. The perpetrator was a young Japanese-looking guy with tattoos, a terrible haircut and "truly, truly awful dress sense" (sound familiar?)

Anyway, my friend declined to go to the nearest koban to wake up the cops and report the assault as there was "absolutely no point- as a gaijin I wouldn't have been taken seriously."

Was he correct? I'd really like to hear some accounts of actual dealings with the police, especially when foreigners have reported...

Thread 'What ARE your legal rights in Japan as a foreigner?'

This question comes up indirectly in many ways on this forum. Do you have the right to be stopped and asked for your gaijin card or bicycle registration if you are not told you are suspected of a crime? Do you get a "phone call?" If you are arrested, what are your rights... do you even have any?

I think this is a question that almost everyone going to Japan and has heard a few horror stories wonders about. I know I have heard various broken statements on one's rights in Japan, but never quite knowing if they are accurate.

I especially started to wonder after reading these two threads...

Post in thread 'Have you encountered discrimination or prejudices in Japan?'

I have just had my bicycle registration checked by the police for the 8th time.

I was riding around my nearest metro station, as every day (that's where all the shops and restaurants are). I passed in front of the Koban (police box) at 5 pm in the middle of the crowd. There were dozens of other people riding bicycles. One police officer saw me coming and got out of the Koban hurriedly toward me, making a sign - but I was too fast and he couldn't stop me. I passed again 30 minutes later in the other direction to go back home. This time, he was waiting and stopped me with another cop. He...
 
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