Japanese Resident Wrongly Received 450 Million Won in COVID-19 Aid... "Already Spent It All"

Due to an employee mistake, the total amount meant for 463 households was sent to one household
The resident said, "I've already spent the money, so I can't return it"

The photo is not related to any specific expression in the article. [Image source=Pixabay]

[Asia Economy Intern Reporter Kim Nayeon] In Japan, controversy has arisen after approximately 450 million won in COVID-19 relief funds were mistakenly paid to a single household. The resident who received the funds stated that they "cannot return the money."

According to the Asahi Shimbun on the 22nd, the Japanese government provided 100,000 yen (about 970,000 won) to households struggling financially due to COVID-19.

Accordingly, the local government of Abu-cho in Yamaguchi Prefecture planned to distribute relief funds to a total of 463 households. However, due to an error by an official in charge, the entire amount of 46.3 million yen (about 448.2 million won), which was supposed to be divided among the 463 households, was transferred to a single household earlier this month.

One employee made a mistake while preparing the remittance request form, and another employee submitted that form to the bank as it was. Unaware of this, a few days later, another employee prepared and submitted a remittance request form to the bank to deposit 100,000 yen to each of the 463 households.

As a result, on the 8th, 100,000 yen was deposited into each of the 463 households, and one household received an additional deposit of 46.3 million yen. After completing the transfers, the bank sensed something was wrong and contacted the local authorities, confirming that a problem had occurred.

However, the resident who received a total of 46.4 million yen in relief funds stated that they cannot return the money. The resident reportedly told the local official who visited their home, "I have already spent the money, so I cannot return it," and expressed willingness to "accept the consequences."

It is known that the local authorities are considering filing a criminal complaint against the resident.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.