Japanese town officials mistakenly credits RM1.58m Covid-19 relief aid to one household
KUALA LUMPUR, April 27 — Authorities of Yamaguchi Prefecture in Japan are seeking out the assistance from police and lawyers after a resident refused to return Covid-19 cash aid mistakenly credited into his bank account.
The Japanese government had given the aid early this month and each of the 463 households of Abu in the prefecture was entitled to ¥100,000 (RM3,411).
However, due to a technical glitch, 462 households failed to get the money and ¥46.3 million (RM1.58 million) went to a household’s account, Sora News 24 reported.
Realising their mistake, officials contacted the household but the household claimed the money had been transferred to another account.
The household reportedly told authorities the move cannot be undone anymore and would pay for the crime.
The prefecture’s mayor Norihiko Hanada later issued an apology to households who failed to get the money and resent the money to them.
Social media users had expressed their surprise at how fast the household managed to make the money disappear.
They felt the right thing to do was to return the money as there was no way the household could get away from pocketing the government’s money.
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