Photo/Illutration The headquarters of the Osaka prefectural police (Asahi Shimbun file photo)

A police sergeant was referred to prosecutors on Nov. 7 by Osaka prefectural police on suspicion of illegally using electronic money that was swindled in a special fraud case, according to investigative sources.

The male officer in his 40s formerly worked at the Ibaraki Police Station. He has been assigned to the prefectural police’s special fraud investigation section since this spring.

The officer has denied some of the charges, according to the sources, but the prefectural police plan to take disciplinary action against him.

According to the sources, when the officer was in charge of special fraud investigations in the Ibaraki Police Station’s criminal division, there were several cases in which elderly victims were tricked into purchasing electronic money cards at convenience stores by suspected fraudsters.

These criminals pilfer the code number on the e-money card over the internet and use it for payments and other purposes.

After purchasing the card, victims gave the code number to the suspects. But it is believed that some of the code numbers were not accurately conveyed and some of the codes were not actually used.

According to the sources, the officer is suspected of having added such e-money into his smartphone between the end of 2023 and the spring of this year, making about 800,000 yen ($5,200) available for use.

The officer reportedly used some of the e-money to play smartphone games.

The officer has told investigators, “I had no intention of taking the e-money for myself” and “I was trying to protect the victim’s property,” according to the sources.

The prefectural police’s special fraud investigation section, to which the officer belongs, was established in 2022 to strengthen measures against special fraud.

In 2022, the total damage from special fraud cases identified by the prefectural police was 3.1 billion yen. The figure increased to 3.6 billion yen in 2023.

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