Prosecutors demanded a 10-year prison sentence Thursday for fired Foreign Ministry official Katsutoshi Matsuo, who stands accused of embezzling 500 million yen from the Cabinet Secretariat's discretionary funds from 1997 to 1999.
"The incident involving such a large amount of money is unprecedented in the history of crimes committed by public servants. (Matsuo) seriously undermined the public's faith in the Foreign Ministry and its officials," the prosecutors said in a statement before the Tokyo District Court.
Judge Hiromichi Inoue said the court plans to hand down a ruling on March 12 after defense lawyers make their final argument on Dec. 27.