A west Japan city of Abu, Yamaguchi Prefecture, wrongly transferred 46.3 million yen (about $36,000) in coronavirus-related subsidies to the account of a household, as it was declared on the 15th of April.
This incident happened under the Japanese government’s program to give out 100,000 yen (approx. $790 exempt from residential tax ) handouts to low-income families affected by the pandemic.
The town government made arrangements with the bank on the 3rd of April to deposit 100,000 yen into the bank accounts of 463 families who had submitted applications for the subsidy before the closing of March. The town employee then submitted an email request to the bank for the account of 46.3 million yen.
They mistakenly named the person who was the most prominent on the list of recipients as the representative of the whole group, which led to the enormous overpayment to the individual.
The mistake was revealed when the bank checked with officials from the municipality. The payment recipient and a municipal government employee are scheduled to visit the bank and follow the process to get the money back.
Source: The Mainichi
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