2 ex-Japan bureaucrats found guilty for COVID subsidy fraud

Two former bureaucrats from industry ministry were found guilty Tuesday of swindling the state out of some 15.5 million yen ($136,000) in office rental subsidies and other benefits that were meant to help coronavirus pandemic-hit businesses.Saying they had "betrayed the public's trust," the Tokyo District Court handed down a jail term of 30 months to Makoto Sakurai, 29, while Yutaro Arai, 28, was sentenced to two years in prison, suspended for four years.According to the ruling, the two fraudulently obtained 11.5 million yen in office rental subsidies between December last year and January …READ FULL ARTICLE