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A woman watches the surroundings. This is the scene of former Mitsubishi UFJ Bank employee Yukari Imamura (46) before her arrest, as captured by FNN. Imamura, who was arrested on the 14th, is said to have been addicted to gambling such as horse racing for over 15 years, and in 2013, she applied for the application of the Civil Rehabilitation Act with debts of over 7 million yen. However, it has been newly revealed that she explained that she "turned to theft" because she had trouble repaying the debt and lost more than 1 billion yen through FX investments and other means. Imamura is suspected of stealing about 20 kg of gold bars, with a market value of 260 million yen, from two customers' safe deposit boxes that she was managing in September 2024, when she was working at the Nerima branch. The unexpected incident was discovered in October 2024 at a bank that is supposed to protect its customers' assets. It was triggered by a customer's consultation that "the contents of the safe might be different." The man whose precious metals were missing from the safe deposit box said, "I went to the safe deposit box and thought I should check it once, and then I got a call from the bank, so I went there yesterday and realized that (the rings and necklaces) were gone." Imamura joined the bank in 1999. He worked there for over 25 years and rose to the position of deputy branch manager in charge of managing the safe deposit boxes. A person who knew Imamura said of his impression of her, "She called a taxi every morning, that's for sure. I thought she was rich. I thought she was a female manager." A former Mitsubishi UFJ employee points out that the crime was committed by someone who abused her important position. Former Mitsubishi UFJ employee Yamaguchi Hitoshi: Only a person of high rank can manage the keys to the safe deposit boxes at the branch, so it can be said that she abused her position as deputy branch manager to commit the crime. Imamura admitted to the charges during questioning by the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department, stating, "I had losses and debts of over 1 billion yen from FX investments and horse racing, and I began to turn to theft because I was having trouble paying them back." This is an extremely heinous crime, with thefts believed to have been committed over a period of four and a half years from 2020, from more than 60 safe deposit boxes. The total damage, including cash and gold bars, is believed to be more than 1.7 billion yen. FNN Prime Online https://www.fnn.jp/