A former Foreign Ministry official arrested Saturday for alleged embezzlement withdrew a total of 10 million yen in January from a personal bank account in which he had deposited money he pilfered from secret government funds, police sources said Tuesday.
Katsutoshi Matsuo, the former head of the now-defunct Overseas Visit Support Division, withdrew the cash when the ministry set up an in-house panel to probe allegations that Matsuo diverted money from the government's funds for unspecified purposes into his own pocket, the sources said.
The police suspect Matsuo, 55, used the money privately even after allegations about him surfaced, they said.