An "unremarkable" accountant stole £9.5 million to support 17 lovers, a court in Japan heard yesterday.Masaaki Matsubayashi, 56, admitted diverting money from a baking company's health insurance scheme on more than 500 occasions in the last five years alone.
Colleagues were reportedly stunned to discover that Matsubayashi, an apparently unremarkable officeworker, had numerous mistresses going back over 25 years.
He reportedly bought several of them expensive Mercedes, one received a £10,000 kimono and he continued to pay £1,500 a month to a lover he had not seen in years. Matsubayashi was office chief in the accounts department at the Shikishima Baking Company in Nagoya, where he was said to be a quiet man who left office parties early.
No one suspected that he maintained a secret apartment and toured nightclubs to drink with hostesses.
However, his home was said to be dilapidated. His wife, who is reported to have been unaware of his double life, has now divorced him.
The Shukan Jitsuwa magazine reported that he initially told police: "I want more new women. It's what I live for. I don't feel guilty at all."
Yesterday, he told the court in Nagoya: "I am truly sorry." He will be sentenced at a later date.