Welfare ministry official acquitted in postal abuse case

Welfare ministry official acquitted in postal abuse case

OSAKA, Japan, Aug. 24 Kyodo - Atsuko Muraki (L), former director general of the Health, Labor and Welfare Ministry's Equal Employment, Children and Families Bureau, holds a press conference in Osaka on Sept. 10, 2010, with her lawyer Junichiro Hironaka after the Osaka District Court acquitted her of instructing a subordinate to fabricate and issue an official document for an organization in an attempt to abuse a mail discount system for people with disabilities.(Kyodo)

US: Heavy Rain in Newark Valley, NY Leads to Flash Flooding

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Acquitted Muraki returns to welfare ministry

Acquitted Muraki returns to welfare ministry

TOKYO, Japan - Atsuko Muraki, senior official at the Cabinet Office, answers reporters' questions after being appointed head of the Social Welfare and War Victims' Relief Bureau of the Health, Labor and Welfare Ministry, at the ministry in Tokyo on Sept. 10, 2012. Muraki was acquitted in 2010 in a fraud case involving abuse of a postal discount system while working at the welfare ministry.

2 senior prosecutors arrested over data tampering

2 senior prosecutors arrested over data tampering

OSAKA, Japan - Toshio Yanagi, chief prosecutor of the Osaka High Public Prosecutors Office, speaks at a press conference after 2 senior prosecutors were arrested over alleged data tampering, in Osaka on Oct. 1, 2010. The top prosecutors office arrested Hiromichi Otsubo, former chief of the special investigation department of the Osaka District Public Prosecutors Office, and his former deputy earlier in the day in connection with a case of altering data seized in a postal abuse scandal.

2 senior prosecutors arrested over data tampering

2 senior prosecutors arrested over data tampering

OSAKA, Japan - Toshio Yanagi, chief prosecutor of the Osaka High Public Prosecutors Office, bows and apologizes at a press conference after 2 senior prosecutors were arrested over alleged data tampering, in Osaka on Oct. 1, 2010. The top prosecutors office arrested Hiromichi Otsubo, former chief of the special investigation department of the Osaka District Public Prosecutors Office, and his former deputy earlier in the day in connection with a case of altering data seized in a postal abuse scandal.

2 senior prosecutors held over data tampering

2 senior prosecutors held over data tampering

TOKYO, Japan - Hiromichi Otsubo, former chief of the special investigation department of the Osaka District Public Prosecutors Office, heads to Tokyo from Osaka on Sept. 23, 2010. The top prosecutors office arrested him and his former deputy on Oct. 1 in connection with a case of altering data seized in a postal abuse scandal.

Muraki assumes post after acquittal

Muraki assumes post after acquittal

TOKYO, Japan - Atsuko Muraki, a 54-year-old senior government official who was acquitted of fraud charges, fields questions from reporters at the prime minister's office in Tokyo on Sept. 27, 2010, after being presented with a letter of appointment for a new post of director general for policy planning at the Cabinet Office. Muraki was arrested over a postal abuse case in June 2009.

Prosecutors raid welfare ministry over postal discount abuse

Prosecutors raid welfare ministry over postal discount abuse

TOKYO, Japan - Prosecutors (L) raid the Health, Labor and Welfare Ministry in Tokyo on May 27 over allegations that a ministry official falsified official documents in connection with a case of postal system abuse.

Senior welfare ministry official arrested over postal fraud

Senior welfare ministry official arrested over postal fraud

TOKYO, Japan - Undated file photo shows Atsuko Muraki, a career-track bureaucrat at the central government who was arrested June 14 over a case of postal system abuse. She heads the welfare ministry's Equal Employment, Children and Families Bureau. (Kyodo)

Prosecutors raid welfare ministry over postal discount abuse

Prosecutors raid welfare ministry over postal discount abuse

TOKYO, Japan - Prosecutors (L) raid the Health, Labor and Welfare Ministry in Tokyo on May 27 over allegations that a ministry official falsified official documents in connection with a case of postal system abuse. (Kyodo)

2 senior prosecutors held over data tampering

2 senior prosecutors held over data tampering

OSAKA, Japan - Motoaki Saga (2nd from front), former deputy chief of the special investigation department of the Osaka District Public Prosecutors Office, gets in a car to head to the prosecutors office on Oct. 1, 2010. The top prosecutors office arrested him and his former superior in connection with a case of altering data seized in a postal abuse scandal. (Kyodo)

2 senior prosecutors held over data tampering

2 senior prosecutors held over data tampering

TOKYO, Japan - Hiromichi Otsubo, former chief of the special investigation department of the Osaka District Public Prosecutors Office, heads to Tokyo from Osaka on Sept. 23, 2010. The top prosecutors office arrested him and his former deputy on Oct. 1 in connection with a case of altering data seized in a postal abuse scandal. (Kyodo)

2 senior prosecutors arrested over data tampering

2 senior prosecutors arrested over data tampering

OSAKA, Japan - Toshio Yanagi, chief prosecutor of the Osaka High Public Prosecutors Office, bows and apologizes at a press conference after 2 senior prosecutors were arrested over alleged data tampering, in Osaka on Oct. 1, 2010. The top prosecutors office arrested Hiromichi Otsubo, former chief of the special investigation department of the Osaka District Public Prosecutors Office, and his former deputy earlier in the day in connection with a case of altering data seized in a postal abuse scandal. (Kyodo)

2 senior prosecutors arrested over data tampering

2 senior prosecutors arrested over data tampering

OSAKA, Japan - Toshio Yanagi, chief prosecutor of the Osaka High Public Prosecutors Office, speaks at a press conference after 2 senior prosecutors were arrested over alleged data tampering, in Osaka on Oct. 1, 2010. The top prosecutors office arrested Hiromichi Otsubo, former chief of the special investigation department of the Osaka District Public Prosecutors Office, and his former deputy earlier in the day in connection with a case of altering data seized in a postal abuse scandal. (Kyodo)

Muraki assumes post after acquittal

Muraki assumes post after acquittal

TOKYO, Japan - Atsuko Muraki, a 54-year-old senior government official who was acquitted of fraud charges, fields questions from reporters at the prime minister's office in Tokyo on Sept. 27, 2010, after being presented with a letter of appointment for a new post of director general for policy planning at the Cabinet Office. Muraki was arrested over a postal abuse case in June 2009. (Kyodo)

2 ex-prosecutors get suspended terms

2 ex-prosecutors get suspended terms

OSAKA, Japan - Hiromichi Otsubo, former head of the elite investigative team at the Osaka District Public Prosecutors Office, enters the Osaka District Court on March 30, 2012. The court sentenced Otsubo and his former deputy to 18 months in prison, suspended for three years, after being found guilty of covering up evidence tampering by one of their subordinates in the course of investigations into a case involving the abuse of a postal discount system. (Kyodo)