A former secretary at the Japanese Embassy in Kenya who was punished for embezzling money via false expense claims is depicted in Foreign Ministry recruitment brochures as a diligent worker, sources said Thursday.
Two pictures of 56-year-old Masaru Dekiba, who was severely admonished by the Foreign Ministry for swindling some 930,000 yen between 1997 and last year, are featured in the 24-page color brochures alongside several others that document the ministry's operations.
Although Dekiba is not named, a caption underneath his picture reads: "An official at the ministry gives appropriate orders concerning an incident to embassy officials at the site of the incident abroad."
Dekiba, who was punished by the ministry for his misconduct on April 24, made separate claims for guards and other security expenses despite the fact that these fees were included in common service expenses allocated to him.
He was reprimanded along with Yoshihiko Arakawa, 48, former minister at the Japanese Embassy of Kenya, and Hikaru Maekawa, another secretary at the embassy, for obtaining up to 2.25 million yen by filing bogus claims for various allowances.
The brochures in question were published to introduce students interested in working at the ministry after graduating to current employees. The ministry printed 50,000 copies in January.
The ministry said that, as it is difficult to collect brochures already distributed among university students, it will remove the official's picture when the brochure is reprinted.
Dekiba is currently an assistant director at the ministry's Consular and Migration Affairs Department.