Japan Post had 30 billion yen in hard-to-recover receivables as of Dec. 31, 2002, due mainly to embezzlement, theft and clerical mistakes, the Board of Audit of Japan said in a survey released Tuesday.
The largest amount -- 11 billion yen -- stemmed from its failure to collect a 20 percent tax on interest from "maruyu" postal savings accounts for senior citizens and the disabled holding more than 3.5 million yen, according to the survey.
About 6 billion yen in unaccounted for receivables resulted from illegal acts by postal workers, such as embezzlement and theft, and 6 billion yen was due to crimes committed by people other than postal employees, such as theft from savings accounts with stolen cash cards. Another 6 billion yen was lost through incorrect payouts of insurance and savings-account money.