Sisters stash US$56m in boxes

TOKYO – Two sisters hid US$56 million cash in cardboard boxes in what may be Japan’s biggest-ever tax dodge, media said.

Hatsue Shimizu, 64, and Yoshiko Ishii, 55, were arrested on suspicion of hiding a stash of yen they inherited from their father, a real estate investor from the western Japanese city of Osaka, Daily Yomiuri said. The sisters are thought to have begun withdrawing money from their father’s bank accounts a few years before his death in 2004.They then declared only a fraction of their inheritance and paid a comparatively small amount in tax, it added.The Yomiuri said Shimizu told prosecutors she had forgotten about the cash, much of which was hidden in her garage, while Ishii admitted the allegations.Nampa-ReutersThe sisters are thought to have begun withdrawing money from their father’s bank accounts a few years before his death in 2004.They then declared only a fraction of their inheritance and paid a comparatively small amount in tax, it added.The Yomiuri said Shimizu told prosecutors she had forgotten about the cash, much of which was hidden in her garage, while Ishii admitted the allegations.Nampa-Reuters