Customer of Japan’s Mizuho Bank had Assets Stolen from Safe Deposit Box; Incident Occurred Five Years Ago (UPDATE 1)

The Yomiuri Shimbun

13:07 JST, February 18, 2025 (updated at 15:15 JST)

A customer of Mizuho Bank Ltd. had assets stolen from a safe deposit box in an incident that was discovered five years ago, it has been learned.

Assets worth an estimated tens of millions of yen were revealed to have been taken from the box in the incident, and an employee of the bank at the time was involved. The bank had reported the theft the Financial Services Agency and the bank took measures to assist the customer, according to sources.

When asked about the case at a press conference following the Cabinet meeting on Tuesday, Finance Minister Katsunobu Kato said, “I will refrain from commenting on cases that individual financial institutions have not made public.”

Last year, it was disclosed that a former employee of MUFG Bank Ltd. stole customers’ assets from safe deposit boxes. Tokyo-based Hana Shinkumi Bank also announced a case of cash theft by a former employee in February last year.

According to a tally by the FSA, there were a total of three cases of employees embezzling customers’ money and other items from safe deposit boxes that occurred at financial institutions nationwide between April 2019 and December last year.

Mizuho Bank has suspended accepting new safe deposit box contracts in principle nationwide since Jan. 16, while continuing the service for existing subscribers.