Police are investigating a man in his 40s, who is a supervisor at the Shinjuku Ward office in Tokyo, on suspicion of theft and embezzlement after he took home the personal belongings of numerous unidentified and unclaimed deceased persons, including cash, credit cards and bank books, without permission from the ward.

According to police, the supervisor is in charge of managing the belongings of the deceased and arranging their cremations, Sankei Shimbun reported on Friday. Unclaimed or unidentifiable bodies are called 行旅死亡人 (deceased travelers) in Japanese.

Upon questioning by police, the suspect explained that he had taken the items home because storing them at the office is troublesome.

The case came to light after another ward office employee contacted police and said the suspect was taking items from corpses.

© Japan Today