TOKYO (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 26th January, 2020) A former employee of Japan's major telecommunications company who is suspected of passing secret data to Russia has said that he wanted thereby to "make some pocket money," the NHK broadcaster reported on Sunday, citing law enforcement sources.
On Saturday, Japanese police detained Yutaka Araki, 48, on suspicion of passing confidential information from a corporate server to members of the Russian trade mission in February. Softbank, in turn, said that the documents that could have been accessed by its ex-employee contained "no highly confidential information." Commenting on the situation, the Russian embassy expressed regret that Tokyo had joined anti-Russian "spy mania."
During the questioning, Araki reportedly said that he had repeatedly met with a Russian trade mission official at restaurants in Tokyo. The man admitted to having received money from them, noting that he just wanted to "make some pocket money," according to Japan's broadcaster.
The broadcaster's sources in police believe that the confidential information in question concerned telecommunications equipment, which, they say, are considered important infrastructure and a target of spying activity.
