crime

Y45 mil stolen from house while owners away on holiday

43 Comments

The home of a couple in Tochigi city was burgled and around 45 million yen in cash stolen while they were away for the New Year holiday, police said Sunday.

The resident is a doctor, police said. The first floor serves as a clinic while the doctor and his wife live on the second floor.

According to police, the couple, who are in their 70s, left home for a trip on Dec 29 and returned on Saturday night. Fuji TV reported that someone broke into the house through a first-floor window and ransacked cabinets and drawers in the bedroom and living room on the second floor.

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43 Comments
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Heiwa boke....this couple lives within a bubble of feeling secure and took their common sense on vacation together!

3 ( +8 / -6 )

Keeping Y45m in cash? no contact with a banker or financial broker ?!

4 ( +6 / -2 )

Or maybe they've hidden it somewhere else, away from the prying eyes of the 'mainamba' people.

5 ( +11 / -6 )

No idea why someone would want to hold that much physical cash.

Cash as an asset class is not something I hold a lot of other than JPY we have left in Japan for visits and an emergency fund in my home currency. Better invested in dividend paying growth stocks.

2 ( +4 / -2 )

There has to be more to this story. Whoever burgled the property knew the owners' holiday plans and also knew there would be a significant amount of cash lying around. Was the business not doing so well? Staged burglary for the insurance, or to escape debts?

3 ( +6 / -3 )

So I guess the doctor will be working a few more years to make up for it.

0 ( +4 / -4 )

Dang! Obviously it is a bad idea to keep that kind of money and valuables at home and it was foolish of them to do so. However, that said, given that the couple are in their 70s, I do feel for them. One has to imagine that this may represent the bulk of their savings, which obviously has major implications for them.

Hopefully they find the perpetrator(s).

6 ( +6 / -0 )

Wonder if he declared it to the tax man

8 ( +11 / -3 )

No idea why someone would want to hold that much physical cash. I have a pretty good idea.

6 ( +8 / -2 )

"Staged burglary for the insurance, or to escape debts?"

Apparently the cash was in "various places" around the apartment and not even in a safe. It's not just about the value of the cash but the sheer amount of paper would be staggering.

There is just no place to HIDE that amount of money in the small apartment that I saw on the TV news...

1 ( +2 / -1 )

the sheer amount of paper would be staggering.

10,000 yen bills would mean 4500 bills. That's not so ridiculous.

3 ( +4 / -1 )

What insurance company would give insurance on cash? "Sure, for 45 million we'll insure your cash horde of 45 million - Hey, Doc, take it to a bank." For an insurance scam the doctor would have his hospital/home burned down while taking the money with him.

How do you escape from debts by staging a robbery of all your money? The loan shark/bank says "Oh, you've been robbed? Well, we'll cancel your debt, then."

70 years old and their tax-free nest egg has vanished. I feel sorry for them, but then again, he knew banks existed. Didn't he? He has other investments, I hope. I.e. Stock in Toshiba... Oops. Or Sony er... Takada?

6 ( +7 / -1 )

So, this couple kept ¥45M in cabinets and drawers? I believe this is why we have banks. I'm sure the BOJ would greatly appreciate having all these cash stashes deposited into banks.

-1 ( +2 / -3 )

Not many people trust banks in Japan. Each bank only guarantees 10m JPY if they go bust. How many times have you fumed while waiting to get to an ATM machine while an elderly person has wads of bank books taking ages to shuffle money around.

After the 2011 tsunami there were thousands of home safes stacked up at police posts as the owners kept their cash at home.

3 ( +3 / -0 )

Forget the "break-in" and "robbery" for a moment. The clue to this mystery is this:

What would the doctor do if the apartment caught fire?

The cash would burn. And that's why it goes in a FIRE-PROOF SAFE...

I won't be the one to say that the cash didn't exist but...

-5 ( +2 / -7 )

Suspects in order of probability: One of the children, clinic employee.

It's just ludicrous and irresponsible to keep that amount of money at home in cash - without the necessary security in place, which obviously they didn't have.

-1 ( +1 / -2 )

45 million yen is an astonishing amount of money to have lying around, but I'm not suprised. It's really common for elderlyJapanese people to keep large amounts of cash at home. A typical amount is 1 million yen. My workplace was burgled a few months ago, and 2 million was stolen. Neighbours said that a "suspicious-looking man" was hanging round for several nights previously, probably watching all our movements.

1 ( +1 / -0 )

but you just did... make yet another totally useless random and contrary comment showing you have NOTHING BETTER TO DO.

Get a life!!

0 ( +0 / -0 )

probably petty cash for a Doctor

1 ( +1 / -0 )

"probably petty cash for a doctor"

Of course, that's what we're expected to believe. But it just doesn't add up. Especially if the outgoings exceed the income...

-2 ( +1 / -3 )

Saw this on the news. Putting up a sign that said you would be gone for the New Year isn't very smart either.

3 ( +3 / -0 )

Hmmmm. Not very smart for a doctor...

0 ( +1 / -1 )

A lot of it must have been undeclared income from his practice...quite common among doctors.

2 ( +2 / -0 )

45 million yen is roughly 375,000 USD. The article doesn't specify the size of their clinic but it isn't that shocking to gross that much money in a month or two.

If it was in 10,000 notes it would be about 4500 notes. At .1 mm per note the entire amount would be 45 cm high. Of course 3 stacks would be 15 cm or 9 stacks at 5 cm each.

Not everyone puts their money in a bank.

3 ( +3 / -0 )

I'm guessing it wasn't in a safe, either. People here keep entirely too much cash on hand in their homes, in 'secret spots', and all too many people know that fact.

0 ( +2 / -2 )

Insurance scam. Why would a doctor have need to have 45mil in cash laying about not in a safe.

-5 ( +0 / -5 )

Insurance scam.

Please tell us how you see this supposed insurance scam working.

5 ( +6 / -1 )

Y45 Million... think....think, why would anybody, let alone a Doctor, a man of learning, keep that much money in a safe or other hidden place in their house? It is Japan, a place where one can trust Banks and the Govt.... then why?

-2 ( +1 / -3 )

danalawton1@yahoo.com You obviously do not know what many Japanese doctors are like.

After many years here, I found only a couple worth trusting. So many bury their mistakes and make stupid decisions like keeping a load of cash in house then telling everyone you have gone away.

3 ( +3 / -0 )

Insurance scam seems unlikely. Most policies I have seen have very low limits on physical cash being covered, and I can't imagine Japanese insurers being any different.

2 ( +2 / -0 )

I've got it! The doctor blew the money on horses and boat racing but needed an excuse for his wife.

0 ( +2 / -2 )

What really surprised me was the fact that they had 45 million JPY in cash.....wow...wow

1 ( +1 / -0 )

Akula:

" No idea why someone would want to hold that much physical cash. "

There are some good reasons for cash: It is anonymous, and not reachible by "negative interests" which have arrived in many countries already. Governments all over the world are pushing for a "cashless society", which makes everbody completely transparent unable to escape either bank or government actions.

The downside of keeping cash in your house is described in the article... if I had 45 million casg, I would at least buy a good safe.

2 ( +2 / -0 )

How come the burglar knew the couple had so much cash at home?

3 ( +3 / -0 )

Thats about £265,000 wow, and they have this amount spare? I feel sorry for them in the sense that they have been broken into, but to have this amount of cash in the house is stupid, I am not sure if the insurance co will cough up that amount, my insurance says upto £2000

2 ( +2 / -0 )

I guess @Brian Wheway that you must be English. Yes, when the currency is converted you can see that it just does not add up. To have a QUARTER OF A MILLION POUNDS in spare cash just lying about the house.

Maybe it's not just the cash that is lying about the house!! ;-)

1 ( +3 / -2 )

How come the burglar knew the couple had so much cash at home?

They probably didn't. Sounds like a jackpot and a stroke of goodluck...until, of course, they are caught

0 ( +2 / -2 )

Maybe the doctor was a politician as well. Some of you will remember when they arrested the school teacher poltiician Kanemaru Shin and they needed several vehicles to remove all the cash and gold bars and bond certificates from his private house

3 ( +3 / -0 )

"when they ARRESTED the school teacher politician"

So I'm guessing that he didn't volunteer the information.. not like this doctor.

1 ( +2 / -1 )

$51 million this guy Kanemaru Shin had in his house. http://articles.baltimoresun.com/1993-03-10/news/1993069002_1_bearer-bonds-japan-kanemaru. $375,000 is chickenfeed in comparison

1 ( +1 / -0 )

Wonder if he declared it to the tax man

I found 735円 in my sofa this morning, need I declare that? :)

4 ( +4 / -0 )

¥45,000,000 and it wasn't even kept in a fixed safe ??

0 ( +0 / -0 )

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