A police sergeant who was arrested and charged with stealing cash as evidence from a police station in Okayama City was re-arrested on suspicion of taking bankbooks and other items in another person's name from a residence he was involved in during the investigation.
The person who was re-arrested is Kazu Matsuoka (32), a sergeant at the Detective Division 2 of Okayama Minami Police Station.
According to the police, Sergeant Matsuoka is suspected of embezzling 12 items, including bankbooks and seals in other people's names, worth approximately 50,000 yen, from a residence in Okayama City where he was involved in the investigation in October last year.
The resident of this house had died several months earlier, and the chief constable and his colleagues visited the house to investigate whether there was any possibility of a crime.However, he later came back on a day off duty and brought out his bankbook and other items. Both items were found at the chief constable's home and confiscated.
He reportedly told investigators, ``I knew he lived alone, so I thought he wouldn't be found out.'' He was in trouble because he was spending money on gambling and other activities.''
Chief Inspector Hirofumi Kawai of the Okayama Prefectural Police Headquarters commented, ``We deeply apologize to the people involved and the citizens of the prefecture for this act that desecrated the deceased.We will take strict action based on the results of the investigation.'' .
The police sergeant was arrested last July for stealing 200,000 yen in cash that was kept as evidence at the police station where he worked, and was indicted on the 29th.