A former Foreign Ministry official on Wednesday was sentenced to two years in prison for defrauding the government of 422 million yen.
Akio Asakawa, 57, was convicted by the Tokyo District Court of padding bills to the tune of around 40 million yen for the 1995 Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation meeting in Osaka and a preparatory meeting in Tokyo the previous month.
During his trial, Asakawa, a former assistant director at the ministry's European Affairs Bureau, admitted to the charge and apologized to the public, saying he wants to spend the rest of his life repenting for the crime.