JR Tokai Worker Defrauds Foreign Customers of 100,000 Yen

May 24, 2018

Tokyo- Central Japan Railway Co. said Thursday that it dismissed a male employee, 20, the same day for cheating customers believed to be foreigners out of about 100,000 yen in train fees.

According to the railway operator, better known as JR Tokai, the employee charged a customer, apparently a foreigner, Shinkansen bullet train fees for three people at a ticket office at Shin-Osaka Station on May 12 although the person asked for tickets for two people.

After issuing tickets for three people, the worker provided two of them to the customer. He then refunded the remaining ticket and pocketed the money.

Feeling suspicious, the customer revisited the office later, and the cheating came to light as a result.

Using similar tricks, the employee illegally obtained 100,860 yen in a total of seven cases between April and this month. All of the affected customers were apparently foreigners.

The worker admitted the misconduct during an in-house probe, saying that he did it for money.

"We offer a profound apology, as this is an unforgivable act that should never be done by a person working in railway business," JR Tokai said in a statement. "We will make efforts to prevent similar cases from occurring." Jiji Press