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Prudential: executive stole
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October 3, 1996: 12:09 p.m. ET
Prudential Japan says manager took $20M in cash and stock
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TOKYO (CNNfn) - Prudential Securities Inc. disclosed Thursday that it has filed a criminal complaint against a former Tokyo-branch employee who allegedly embezzled 2.2 billion Japanese yen ($20 million) in cash and stock.
Company spokesman Charles Perkins said Prudential Securities (Japan) Ltd. discovered the alleged theft in June 1995 through a routine audit.
He said the firm determined that a former assistant general manager of Prudential Japan's operations department had taken the cash and stock.
Perkins said the man, who had been laid off in a May 1995 downsizing, admitted to the theft when confronted.
The suspect allegedly misappropriated 1.1 billion yen ($10 million) in stock certificates over a two-year period, then stole 1.1 billion yen ($10 million) in cash on a single day.
Prudential would only identify the suspect as a Japanese national in his 30s.
Perkins said Prudential is "still investigating" what became of the missing cash and stock.
The spokesman said Prudential notified the Japanese Finance Ministry when the firm first discovered the alleged theft.
However, Perkins said that at authorities' requests, Prudential did not disclose the matter publicly until Thursday, when a Japanese newspaper ran a story about the case.
"Prudential is a private company and is not compelled to release such information," Perkins said.
The spokesman said his firm reimbursed any clients who lost money from the embezzlement, while an insurance company, in turn, covered Prudential's losses.
Prudential, the fifth largest U.S. brokerage, has operated a Japanese subsidiary since 1979.
From staff and wire reports.
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