POLICE IN JAPAN HAVE arrested close family members of the man who was found dead in his home when record-keepers checked if he was Tokyo’s oldest man.
Sogen Kato would have been the city’s record-holder – if he had lived to the day his body was discovered.
Officials who were updating city records asked the police to contact Kato when they were unable to reach him.
Authorities think Kato, whose mummified remains were found in his bed after police broke into his apartment, was dead for up to 30 years.
His family said he had informed them he wanted to life as a hermit, and had cut himself off from them about 30 years ago.
But police have arrested his daughter and granddaughter on suspicion of stealing the elderly man’s pension.
Michiko Kato, 81, and Tokimi Kato, 53, were arrested for allegedly receiving over €80,000 in pension payments.
The case sparked a nationwide search to check if any of the country’s nearly 200 centenarians were missing.
To embed this post, copy the code below on your site
have your say