Tokyo - Around 2.45 million yen in cash has been found in a western Tokyo apartment once rented by a member of the Aum Shinrikyo cult, the lawyer who was in charge of its bankruptcy procedures and a support group for the victims of the cult’s crimes said Wednesday, indicating that the money may constitute hidden assets.
The support organization said it plans to distribute the money, stashed in the ceiling of the apartment’s bathroom, to victims of the cult’s crimes. The cash is believed to be the first asset of the cult discovered after its bankruptcy procedures ended in March. The cash was discovered in March this year by the manager of the apartment who had been asked by a former Aum leader to check the bathroom in April 2003. The apartment room had been rented by a female Aum follower between December 1996 and August 2000. The manager eventually found the cash after another occupant had vacated the apartment.
