Bank of Japan Theft

From eRepublik Official Wiki
Revision as of 00:48, 29 October 2016 by Ryoushi (Talk | contribs) (Undo revision 715352 by Oraizan (talk))

Jump to: navigation, search

The Bank of Japan Theft refers to an incident on Day 716 where the National Bank of Japan, and both branches of the Japanese military, were robbed of all their gold and Japanese Yen.

As of Day 735, the stolen money was returned to Japan by the admins.

Background

Change of Power

On November 5, 2009, Dokomo from the Godzilla Party was elected president of Japan, defeating Lauri Mursu by a decisive margin. Mursu, along with outgoing president Oraizan, was considered by many as the part of the "old guard" in Japanese politics, and the election of Dokomo, a refugee from North Korea, was seen by many as a major shift in power.

Among the citizens who dissented to the change of power was a former six-term Congressman named Walorm. Walorm - with the help of highly-placed accomplices who have not yet been identified - endeavored to strip the Japanese bank and military of its treasury. An investigation that studied donations between the National Bank of Japan and the organizations where the money ended up, easily implicated Walorm. He confessed in IRC, saying on November 7, "The treasury money is safe and sound. Unfortunately my reputation in eJapan will not be so good in coming days."[1] In the days following the theft, Walorm defended his actions by saying he did not respect the new administration and that the theft was done to protect Japan. Walorm held the official position of Secretary of Foreign Affairs in the cabinet of Oraizan, as well as her predecessor Minamoto Yoritomo. However, it was later revealed the title was just a cover for his real position as Intelligence Officer.[2]

The Theft

Prelude

In mid-October, Congressman Akki, at the request of Minister of Finance Mursu [3], proposed that 30,000 yen (approximately 1,000 gold) be transferred from the national treasury to the National Bank of Japan organization[4]. The vote passed 27-9, but unlike most proposals, there was no discussion thread made before the vote took place.

In the days after the law passed, military leaders began to complain that they were not receiving the money they'd been earmarked. The Japanese Imperial Army received some of their money, but not the full amount. Meanwhile the Japanese Imperial Navy still had not received funding two weeks after Congress approved the measure [5]. As the debate over money transfers raged, Akki defended the vote on the grounds of executive powers. He wrote, "It is not executive branch's fault that they have the pile of funds that they can decide what to do with, it was congress who granted the power to them, that is at the fault." [6]

With the nation's gold (approximately 1270 gold) already in the National Bank of Japan, and the yen moved there due to the mid-October congressional act, virtually all of the government's funds were held in one location. During the October term, President Oraizan gave numerous people access to the National Bank of Japan, with Oraizan claiming four people had access, and other estimates going as high as six. Another large portion of the nation's funds - approximately 8,000 yen - were contained in the nation's military branches, the JIA and JIN. Access to these organizations was held by JIA leader KITA Ikki, JIN leader Chaotic1, and the country president.

With these issues hanging in the air, there was substantial debate in Congress regarding the security of the nation's funds. This ultimately led President Oraizan, finance minister Mursu, plus vice presidents Geno Garon and Tohru, to sign contracts designed to protect the country from the theft of government funds.

On October 28, Walorm made the following statement on the national forums, during the debate over the transfer and disposition of funding: "Look people, a contract has been written. We have NO need to transfer funds to the treasury. Anyone who has any experience in this game knows having lots of money in the treasury makes you a PTO target." [7]

Treasury DoK

On November 5, the National Bank of Japan, Japanese Imperial Army, and Japanese Imperial Navy all shouted a phrase in Romanian and the various currencies in the organizations disappeared through the Money Market. The amount of money later found in the organization Treasury DoK, was the exact amount that had disappeared from the Japanese-government organizations. Walorm was seen on the friends list of Treasury DoK, though he was later removed. The donation list for Treasury DoK had only one entry, from a player named Padraig_Pearse. Pearse's own donation list showed that the two most recent donations were one gold from Walorm, and one gold to Treasury DoK, done almost simultaneously. A further look at Walorm's donation list showed the transfer to Pearse, as well as earlier transfers to DoKtors Orders, an organization most likely designed to study currency markets while the culprits decided which money market to make the transfer through.

The theft was facilitated through Pearse. Pearse donated one Irish Pound to Treasury DoK, and then through the org, placed a highly unbalanced offer on the money market - one IEP for 1,270 gold. Then someone with access to the National Bank of Japan accepted the offer. With gold now in Treasury DoK, the org put up another offer, .01 gold for 42,000 yen, and the bank accepted.

In the days following the theft, Padraig_Pearse posted a ransom note on his newspaper titled My demands for the return of your treasury.

Most followers of the incident believe the theft was not accomplished by hacking, since three organizations were compromised almost simultaneously, and the passwords for each were different.

Aftermath

The theft was discovered mere hours after Dokomo was elected. The new administration responded quickly, fearing that the perpetrators could unleash an economic attack on the country that would de-value the yen and cripple Japan's economy. Congress passed an emergency in-game vote that transferred 7,500 yen from the national treasury to the National Bank of Japan, which was immediately put on the money market, to bring much-needed gold into the NBJ. The next day the government attempted to print another 20,000 yen and move it into the National Bank, but Congresswoman Yonai Keiko blocked the move by proposing that 10 JPY be moved to Treasury DoK[8]. The vote failed 34-2, but blocked the government from making another transfer proposal for 48 hours.

In the following days, the new government started the Jump Start Japan program[9], which asked citizens to donate directly to the National Bank of Japan, and buy yen from NBJ once the offers were posted. Approximately 450 gold was loaned to the government by private citizens and concerned businesses. As of November 23, all loans had been paid back and the government had modest reserve funds available.

Walorm was temporarily suspended from the game and moved to Singapore. He quietly returned to Japan, but is no longer active. Padraig_Pearse was eventually banned from the game. Oraizan left Japan and became a central political figure in Austria. Dokomo served two terms as President of Japan and then became the Minister of Defense. Mursu resigned as the Minister of Foreign Affairs under Dokomo and obtained Finnish citizenship. Akki remains a member of Congress and owner of several Japanese businesses. Yonai Keiko briefly fled to Spain, and now lives in Austria.

On November 24, new Minister of Finance Vorph announced the National Bank of Japan's money was returned. The yen contained in the JIA and JIN were returned a short time later.


References

http://www.erepublik.com/en/article/how-do-you-want-your-government-run--994954/1/20
http://nipponblog.net/forum/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=1023
http://nipponblog.net/forum/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=1136
http://nipponblog.net/forum/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=1139
http://www.erepublik.com/en/article/and-now-a-message-from-your-president--1020014/1/20
http://www.erepublik.com/en/article/the-future-begins-now-1023714/1/20