{"id":51133,"date":"2025-08-15T18:24:19","date_gmt":"2025-08-15T09:24:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/?p=51133"},"modified":"2025-08-15T18:24:21","modified_gmt":"2025-08-15T09:24:21","slug":"japanese-game-company-executive-embezzles-2-35-million-by-sending-fake-outsourcing-job-orders-to-themselves","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/news\/japanese-game-company-executive-embezzles-2-35-million-by-sending-fake-outsourcing-job-orders-to-themselves\/","title":{"rendered":"Japanese game company executive embezzles $2.35 million by sending fake outsourcing job orders to themselves\u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>GungHo Online Entertainment, the developer and publisher of <strong>Puzzle &amp; Dragons, <\/strong>recently<strong> <\/strong>revealed that a former senior executive-level employee<strong> <\/strong>had been embezzling company funds over the past few years. GungHo <a href=\"https:\/\/ssl4.eir-parts.net\/doc\/3765\/tdnet\/2676073\/00.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">made the announcement<\/a> on August 14, after firing the employee on July 24.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The employee created fictitious work orders through an online outsourcing platform, listing GungHo as the client and themselves as the contractor, i.e., the recipient of the fake jobs. By pocketing the payments, the former executive embezzled about 246 million yen (roughly $1.67 million). In a separate scheme, they also made improper payments to a certain third party, driving total damages to GungHo to $2.35 million. These payments were likewise disguised as fictitious outsourcing orders.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The misconduct was discovered through a joint investigation GungHo conducted with external legal and accounting firms after initial suspicions arose within the company. GungHo stated that they are taking a strict stance on the matter \u2013 in addition to firing the employee, they have contacted investigative authorities and are preparing to file criminal charges. They reflect on the fact that the executive held excessive authority, making it difficult for other employees to detect irregularities. \u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Alongside implementing preventative measures, GungHo\u2019s leadership will take responsibility for the incident through pay reductions. CEO Kazuki Morishita will receive a 30% monthly salary reduction for 3 months, and executive directors will have their pays docked by 10% for the same period.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Related article:<\/strong> <a href=\"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/news\/activist-investor-of-major-japanese-game-developer-requests-dismissal-of-ceo-calls-him-unqualified-and-completely-unaware-of-his-responsibilities\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Activist investor of Japanese game developer GungHo requests dismissal of CEO, calls him \u201cunqualified and completely unaware of his responsibilities\u201d\u00a0<\/a>\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/news\/former-bandai-namco-employee-arrested-for-embezzling-3-38-million-at-overseas-subsidiary-executives-penalized-for-oversight\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Former Bandai Namco employee arrested for embezzling $3.38 million at overseas subsidiary. Executives penalized for oversight<\/a>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>GungHo is preparing to file criminal charges against the (now dismissed) senior executive-level employee for siphoning company funds.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":55,"featured_media":51137,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_gspb_post_css":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[261,17],"class_list":["post-51133","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-financial-news","tag-japan-related-news"],"blocksy_meta":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.2 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Japanese game company executive embezzles $2.35 million by sending fake outsourcing job orders to themselves\u00a0 - AUTOMATON WEST<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"GungHo is preparing to file criminal charges against the (now dismissed) senior executive-level employee for siphoning company funds.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/news\/japanese-game-company-executive-embezzles-2-35-million-by-sending-fake-outsourcing-job-orders-to-themselves\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Japanese game company executive embezzles $2.35 million by sending fake outsourcing job orders to themselves\u00a0 - 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