Police baffled by Y360 million that disappeared from backyard

On Oct 10, 2007, an 83-year-old company owner in Saga Prefecture reported to police that 360 million yen, which he had buried in his yard, had disappeared. The money was never recovered and the man passed away last December. The police revealed details of the case on Jan 28.

“There were lots of police vehicles and investigators at that time. I was also interviewed by police,” said a neighbor. “Police said they were investigating a case of theft, but I was surprised to hear what it was all about and the amount of money involved.”

According to police, the old man had saved the money during a 40-year span, always putting it in a container which he buried in his backyard garden. It was in October, 2007, when he added to his cache for the last time. The money was dug up sometime prior to Oct 10, police said.

Neighbors said they had never seen the man burying anything in his garden and never realized he had so much money. “He drove an ordinary Japanese car, didn’t drink or gamble, as far as I know,” said one. “His lifestyle seemed simple.”

One of the man’s relatives told Shukan Post that they had drifted apart. “I hadn’t seen him for a long time and didn’t know anything about his financial condition. There were not many people at his funeral. I think he wanted to keep his money with him all the time. But I still doubt if he really buried that much money in the backyard.”

The man did have a lot of money-related troubles, according to those who knew him. He used to run a cleaning company and one of his employees recalls, “He often said we would have to take a pay cut to cover his losses. But it was a lie. He paid us 7,000 yen a day, while he was earning millions of yen. He never increased wages and even fired employees just before bonus payday. There was always a high turnover of staff.”

Police believe that if the money really was stolen, then the thief must be someone fully aware of the man’s finances. They have investigated neighbors, business contacts and even tax officers.

However, some say the deceased man’s his behavior is too irrational for a money-driven guy. An investigator says, “There was no light and security camera in the backyard. He said he buried the money there in case of a fire in the house. But there are safer places than the backyard. He could have used a safety deposit box at a bank. I think he had some secret reason for hoarding his money like that. Maybe he had tax issues.”

In any case, somebody got 360 million yen richer—in tax-free money. (Translated by Taro Fujimoto)

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Latest 15 of 31 Total Comments Show All

GW at 10:27 AM JST - 11th February

I bet this story is BS! Y360mil, that means he saved about Y4mil for every year he was alive, now I dont know what the hell his business was cleaning but I doubt this figure is true.

The guy probably mistakenly added 3-4 zeros & buried a few hundred thousand that just biodegraded over time ha ha
Apsara at 11:44 AM JST - 11th February

Yeah, seems like we only have his word for the amount being 360 million. Also when my grandmother started to move into the more severe stages of Alzheimer's she was constantly telling us things had been stolen from her- none of it was true.
hoserfella at 11:57 AM JST - 11th February

GW-its over 40 years. I dont know of any newborns that are able to start squirreling money away right off the bat...
Samuraiiki at 12:08 PM JST - 11th February

There is no security in money. Spend it!
scoobydoo at 01:23 PM JST - 11th February

Dead right samuraiiki, you get some money and somehow some salesman, relative, friend, enemy, govt departments ........ can smell it and want it even though you never advertised. When you don't have it its only credit card companies that come around asking you to spend some one elses money. Any way the old fella sounded mean and died mean. Reap what you sow.
Richard_the_First at 01:38 PM JST - 11th February

Reminds me of the Aesop's fable about a miser man who converts his worth into gold and buries it in a field to protect it. One of his farm workers realises this, digs up the gold and replaces it with an ordinary rock. The miser laments his loss but a wise neighbour points out that accumulated but unused wealth has no true worth anyway and thus, for the miser, the rock is of equal value to the gold he has lost.
Eizenhauer at 06:05 PM JST - 11th February

Stingy guy like that who fired people before bonus payout and kept paying his employees the worst salary man can get in Japan finally got what he deserved. "What goes around comes around..."
tkoind2 at 09:38 AM JST - 12th February

I bet there was no money. More likely this guy was suffering from some convincing delusion that he decided to share with the authorities.
GW at 12:05 PM JST - 12th February

GW-its over 40 years. I dont know of any newborns that are able to start squirreling money away right off the bat...

horsefella, hence my thinking the story is BS!
GG2141 at 07:12 PM JST - 12th February

Great Asop fable.

By that logic, the money in your wallet is not being used and thus has no value. Therefore you won't mind whilst I remove it (at gunpoint).

I do get the wider meaning.....BTW.
TPOJ at 07:47 PM JST - 12th February

Uh, are we sure the money actually existed?

Guy was 83, and sounds like he wasn't the nicest person. "There were not many people at his funeral." As in, he most likely wasn't exactly flooded with social calls.

Hmm.

Some people just make stuff up as an excuse to talk to people. And reporting something like that would most likely take up a whole day...
haitkayomccombs at 02:15 AM JST - 15th February

Oh no ! They have to get up from their chairs.
jeancolmar at 09:17 AM JST - 15th February

There is no mention of a hole. If the money was dug up there has to be a hole. Either that or evidence of fresh earth being turned. Either there was no money or it is still buried. Or all this is fantasy.
bobbafett at 01:09 PM JST - 15th February

I reckon its BS to get people salivating and watching their neighbors in the Garden.
MANDUDE at 04:11 PM JST - 26th February

He burried it and never spent it so why should he care if someone stole it? He was never going to use it anyway. I'm going to start watching my neighbors a little more closely when they are out gardening!