A man living as a hikikomori hermit for the past 30 years has been arrested after it transpired he had hid his mother’s corpse for 3 years so he could use her pension to steal $80,000 to fund his plamo hobby.
The corpse of the man’s 80-year-old mother was discovered in the kitchen of their Nagoya home, sealed in a vacuum bag for storing futons. Her death is not thought to be suspicious in nature.
She had died 3 years ago, but her 60-year-old son, who had been living as a jobless hikikomori for the past 30 years, hid her death from the authorities so he could fraudulently claim her pension.
In this fashion he succeeded in pilfering from $80,000 to $110,000 – aided by the fact the funds were transferred straight to his account.
Her corpse, still in its bag, was eventually discovered hidden on a kitchen shelf.
Explaining the crime, he made reference to the fact he was a jobless parasite dependent on his mother:
“My mother’s pension was my only source of income. I needed the money so I kept claiming her pension after she died.
I used the money to cover my living costs, and to spend on my hobbies and buy plamo.”
He has been charged with fraud.
The case calls to mind similar incidents of pension fraud, where many of Japan’s oldest inhabitants were discovered to be nothing more than mummies which had been concealed from authorities in order for their relatives to claim their pensions.
It also highlights a major concern about Japan’s population of hikikomori – what exactly happens to them when their parents die and they are left alone with nobody to scrounge from?
There’s been this series of articles on how Japan doesn’t check up on its pensioners on Sankaku. Well, turns out that Greece has the same problem. Greece never checked up on the pensions of civil servants and relatives were all too happy not to report their deaths to the authorities. An estimated 80% of Greece’s 5000 centenarians are probably dead.
Oh wait, that’s the wrong number. 5000 is approximately how many dead pensioners were already discovered. Greece has about 9000 centenarians (officially) which would make 80% a very conservative estimate, in my opinion.
It’s his mother’s guilty! She didn’t teach him how to get free of her
Nice Boat!
Well after 30 years of Munchkinhousen syndrome treatment maybe thats just how it was supposed to be. How many of you are sitting there with burned out intestions, chained to the toilet and bearly enough strength to make it to the kitchen and back? Sounds like what was done to him and to m..
Wait so How does Japan’s Tax System work lol