The Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry announced Thursday that a senior official misappropriated 24 million yen in public funds for personal stock trading.
The former head of the policy planning office at METI's secretariat invested the money together with his personal funds in trading of Kanebo Ltd. and other companies' shares around April 2004, Vice Minister for Economy, Trade and Industry Hideji Sugiyama said.
The 48-year-old official, whose name is being withheld, has since returned the money — plus 2 million yen in profits gained from the stock deals — to the ministry, according to Sugiyama.