Police said Thursday they have arrested the former secretary of a Liberal Democratic Party Diet member and his friend over a 2010 robbery of some ¥100 million in cash from a Kyoto residence.
Takayuki Kamikura, 44, who was already in prison after being convicted of another robbery in 2016, was working as a state-paid secretary for LDP House of Councilors member Satoshi Ninoyu at the time of the alleged 2010 offense, according to sources familiar with the matter.
Kamikura was also served a separate arrest warrant last month over a third incident, police said.
The former secretary and Mayumi Nishitani, 59, are suspected of taking the cash from a safe at a private residence in Sakyo Ward, Kyoto, on Sept. 29, 2010, after threatening a 60-year-old resident with a knife and tying up her hands, according to the police. The woman sustained minor injuries to her hands.
Police suspect Kamikura purchased luxury goods with the stolen cash.
"I had no idea. If this is true, it was committed while he was working as a secretary," Ninoyu said. "I cannot hide my shock."
In June last year, the Matsue branch of the Hiroshima High Court sentenced Kamikura to five years in prison for a robbery resulting in injuries after he posed as a delivery service worker and broke into a house in Izumo, Shimane Prefecture, in June 2016.
While serving that sentence, Kyoto police issued a fresh arrest warrant over attempted extortion in a separate case.