In a surprising turn of events, a member of staff employed at Japan’s Imperial Palace has been dismissed for misappropriating funds from Emperor Naruhito’s personal accounts. As announced by the Imperial Household Agency (IHA), a young individual in their 20s siphoned off a sum of approximately 3.6 million yen (equivalent to $24,900) over a period extending beyond a year.
This employee was among 80 attendants designated to fulfill the daily requirements of Emperor Naruhito and his family. The incident marks an unprecedented blemish in the royal household’s modern history, causing considerable embarrassment.
The discrepancy first came to light during an internal probe by the IHA, initiated in January. This investigation was triggered by a discovery made by an assistant manager who observed discrepancies between the cash reserves in the safe and the official accounting records.
The issue came to a head in late March when a shortage of 30,000 yen ($207) was noticed. The suspect, who had just concluded an overnight shift, confessed to the theft after being questioned, attributing the actions to personal financial struggles.
In total, the suspect confessed to the theft of 3.6 million yen, carried out on several occasions from November 2023 to late March of the following year. However, the stolen money was repaid by mid-April.
The pilfered funds stemmed from the 324 million yen ($2.24 million) that is annually allocated as living expenses for the Emperor, his wife Empress Masako, their daughter Princess Aiko, and Naruhito’s parents — the former Emperor Akihito and Empress Michiko.
Reacting promptly to the situation, the IHA lodged a criminal complaint with palace security and subsequently terminated the employment of the implicated individual. Moreover, the assistant manager who first detected the accounting inconsistency has been subjected to a one-month salary reduction as a consequence of inadequate management procedures.
Yasuhiko Nishimura, head of the IHA, conveyed that such misconduct by a public servant in service to the Imperial family is both “unthinkable” and “extremely regrettable.” An apology was issued to the imperial family as reported by local media. Measures are being taken to reinforce disciplinary standards among palace staff to forestall such incidents in the future.