10 years wanted for former Sony Life employee for unprecedented fraud – Nippon.com

Tokyo, Oct. 5 (Jiji Press) — Public prosecutors on Wednesday requested a 10-year prison term against a former Sony Life Insurance Co. employee who is accused of fraudulently obtaining about 17 billion yen from a foreign unit of the Japanese insurer.

In the Tokyo District Court, the prosecution convicted the defendant, Rei Ishii, 33, of committing an “unprecedented case of massive fraud”, while the defense asked for leniency. The court is due to render a decision on November 18.

According to the indictment, Ishii allegedly transferred $155 million from the overseas subsidiary’s U.S. bank account to an account under his control on May 19 last year by claiming to have been instructed to do so by superior.

It is believed that he converted all the money into bitcoin the next day, with the apparent aim of hiding the illegal gain.

The bitcoin holdings were confiscated through the joint efforts of Japanese and US investigative authorities. By the time the cash was returned to the company in August this year, its value had ballooned to around 22.1 billion yen, thanks to changes in exchange rates.

[Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]