What will you do if your government accidentally sent you 46.3 million Yen of Covid-19 support money?
Well, that’s what happened to a 24-year-old unemployed man in a town in Japan. What he did with the money caused not only trouble to him but to his whole community. This money for assistance was tax money paid by the hard earned money from the Japanese people. After receiving the entire lump of tax money by accident, the man spent all of it on gambling via an online casinos abroad app. He was accused of spending the money despite knowing it was mistakenly transferred into his account. Allegedly, he refused to return the tax money to officials, and thus he was arrested on suspicions of committing computer fraud.
What’s most interesting, actually, is the reaction of the public and the many controversial opinions. Some say his arrest was wrong because the fault lies on the town officials who made the grave mistake of sending him the money. The idea is that their mistake changed the life of a young innocent individual who has a plethora of potential…
Regardless of who is to blame, what is deniably true now is that he is labeled a thief who greedily devoured the money that could have helped countless families in dire need of assistance. Here are the things that will haunt this young man for life:
- Endless Recognition. His name, age, address, and probably even where he studied are now public information. Who would want to hire an untrustworthy man who used an entire community’s COVID-19 financial support money on gambling? Although part of the money has been returned to the city council, it is not the end of this case.
- Family Shame. I imagine, with how cruel society is, his parents will probably be labeled as the parents who raised a thief.
There are many “what-ifs” surrounding this case that could have caused a different outcome.
What if he returned the money immediately?
What if he called the clerks’ office immediately – would he have been recognized as a hero? Would he receive an accolade for covering the mistake of his towns administration? Would he have received job offers for his honorable actions?
What if the town clerk didn’t make the mistake?
What if the clerk immediately notified the bank – would the clerk have gotten an earful from their boss? Would the clerk have been considered incompetent??
Well, whatever it is, in the end, “You reap, what you sow”
In Japan, we have a proverb, “Easy money is easy to spend.” “Easy money” and “unearned money” might destroy human lives.
Some may think that money reflects the ugly and mean side of a humans mind…but it’s not true.
Money just reveals what kind of person we are. Money doesn’t make us do things or control our actions.
Money just gives us the chance to show our real self.
Photo: “You reap, what you sow”