Eleven diplomats have been punished for embezzling public money between 1997 and 2002 while they were stationed at the Japanese diplomatic mission in Vienna, Foreign Ministry officials said Tuesday.

One of them, a minister at the Japanese Mission to the International Organizations, used more than 3 million yen in public funds in the late 1990s to buy furniture for his apartment.

The minister collected about 3.3 million yen after his request for 624,000 yen in monthly rent was granted for 24 months starting in February 1997, even though he was only being charged 487,000 yen.

The diplomat, identified only as an ambassador to an African country, was quoted as saying he used the money to better furnish his apartment. The furnishings were given to his successor free of charge.

The diplomat paid back 4.3 million yen, including a delinquency charge, last week and was ordered home Saturday.

The man will soon be dismissed from the Foreign Ministry and asked to return 30 percent of his retirement benefits, the officials said.

The ministry launched an internal probe into the embezzlement cases in August after receiving information from a whistle blower, according to Deputy Vice Foreign Minister Shinichi Kitajima.

The ministry will not file criminal charges against the ambassador, because he voluntarily admitted to the embezzlement charge after the ministry began questioning other officials involved in wrongdoing, and also because he has returned all of the money to the state, Kitajima said.

The other 10 were punished with pay cuts and other measures after they were found to have embezzled between 100,000 yen and 2 million yen in state funds by claiming utility costs for their condominiums, also between 1997 and 2002, even though they weren't supposed to, the officials said.

The 10 have also indicated that they will repay the embezzled money, they added.