A male staff member of the Ishigaki Coast Guard Office was dismissed and given a dishonorable discharge after he was discovered to have pocketed about ¥2.4 million of Coast Guard money.

According to a spokesman at the 11thRegional Coast Guard Headquarters, the 49-year-old staff member had been in charge of accounting. He is suspected of embezzling the money from funds earmarked for paying for food to crews of Coast Guard patrol boats that have been assigned to patrol waters off the disputed Senkaku Islands from Apr. 2014 to end of March 2015.

The problem was discovered when the food vendor contacted the Coast Guard Headquarters about unpaid invoices for food that he had delivered in January and February this year. The staff member has admitted to the embezzlement and said that he used the money for entertainment and paying off debts.  He has since repaid the money in full.

Coast Guard officials are still investigating details of the embezzlement, and are reportedly considering filing a criminal complaint with police against the former member.

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