Japanese steals million for imaginary boyfriend: police

0 Comments | AFP, January, 2008

TOKYO (AFP) — A Japanese woman allegedly stole a million dollars for her "boyfriend" who had emailed her a picture of a good-looking man but shunned contact in person for years, police and reports said Friday.

Sachiko Tsukada, 30, reportedly met the man on an Internet dating site in late 2001 but had never met him in real life until a lawsuit brought them together in October.

Tsukada, a former accounting official at a transport company, was arrested on theft charges Thursday along with her unemployed 32-year-old suitor, Masafumi Hirosawa.

They allegedly "conspired to steal a total of 2.5 million yen (23,300 dollars) by withdrawing money from the company's bank account five times" in the central city of Nagoya last year, a police spokesman said.

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