MIssing is the now former 'Chief Accountant' for the Yokohama Country & Athletic Club (YC&AC), Jiro UCHIDA, whose seems to have purposely faked his death late April by leaving his sandals and bicycle on a beach in Chigasaki. Now with the discovery Uchida likely embezzled 30 million JPY (sounds kind of low ... so I'm guessing it's either '300 million JPY' or simply evidence of the first 'tranche' of embezzled funds), the assumption that he drowned while surfing seems to have shifted to the theory that he's done a runner....
From: Yokohama Country & Athletic Club
Date: Thu, Apr 28, 2016
Dear Members,
It was not my intention for this news to be my first communication as your new President.
As many of you know our accountant, Jiro Uchida, was reported missing just days after the AGM on Wednesday April, 20th. A subsequent search took place and his bicycle and beach sandals were discovered on a beach in Chigasaki, Kanagawa Prefecture. The police later reported that they believed he may have drowned while surfing.
In parallel with the ongoing search, we began a review of or accounts for the club. Our external auditor, Hayasaka Accounting, had just completed our annual audit and certified our books at the end of our fiscal year in January so we were not expecting any surprises.
Unfortunately, as we dug deeper it became clear that the reported bank balances, and the audit certified bank balances were in fact incorrect. To this end, we have consulted with legal counsel and filed a criminal complaint with the police who are now investigating.
I would like all of you to know that there is no risk to the ongoing operations of our club and we are working quickly to address the issues that allowed this to occur. At an emergency BOD meeting last night, we have formed a task force to address all areas of the situation and working in close collaboration with the police, Naikakufu, and others.
Under the circumstances, and with the benefit of clarity gained over the last several days removing any doubt about what has happened, we feel it critical to update all the members of our club as quickly as possible.
To that end, I would like to invite all of you to join a Town Hall Meeting this coming Sunday at 2pm at the club.
Signs will be posted to indicate the place of the meeting upon arrival.
I would like to walk all of you through what has happened, how we are addressing it, and respond to your questions along with the rest of your Board of Directors.
Thank-you and hope to see you Sunday.
Warmest regards,
Richard Gustafson
