Japanese man who was accidentally paid £290,000 in Covid relief money meant for 460 people vanishes after losing ALL of it gambling on his phone in a month

A Japanese man who was accidentally paid £290,000 in Covid relief money intended for 463 low-income households has vanished after losing it all in a month through online gambling, the BBC reports.

A government support scheme for those suffering Covid hardship was intended to pay each household £620 in the southern town of Abu in Japan’s Yamaguchi Prefecture.

But due to a blunder, on April 8 the entire amount – 46.3m yen or £290,000 – ended up in one man’s account.

The recipient initially told authorities he would kindly return the money after the huge mistake.

But since then he has mysteriously vanished.

‘I don’t currently have the money and I don’t have anything with property value at hand,’ his lawyer quoted him as saying, according to The Asahi Shimbun.

‘It’s actually difficult to return it.’

Source: https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-10825513/Japanese-man-accidentally-paid-290-000-Covid-money-vanishes-gambling-away.html