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Punishment Revealed For Referee Who Stole Money Meant For Earthquake Victims

Originally posted on The Spun | By Tzvi Machlin | Last updated Jun 9, 2025 9:02 PM ET

A referee who was caught red-handed stealing money earmarked for victims of a catastrophic earthquake has been punished severely.

Last month it was reported that a high-ranking referee within the Japan Sumo Association had been caught stealing millions of Japanese yen (the equivalent of tens of thousands of U.S. dollars) from a fund continuously donating money to victims of the 2011 earthquake ad tsunami disasters in Japan. At the time though, the identity of the referee was a secret.

But amid an eventful month of news in the sport, the identity of the thief has finally been revealed.

On Monday, the Japan Sumo Association (JSA) announced that 50-year-old Noriyuki Itoi, who performed his duties under the name Kimura Ginjiro, has been formally dismissed from the JSA. As part of his dismissal, he is not eligible for any retirement bonuses that he would have earned.

A hearing was reportedly held on May 10th where Itoi confessed.

The inside skinny was true: Gyōji who embezzled huge amounts of money meant help children in areas affected by the 2011 disaster was indeed Ginjirō, who as reported used it for gambling etc since 2019. Always seemed like such a nice guy.. https://t.co/EfdG5lIYBU
— Sumo Soul 相撲魂 (@TheSumoSoul) June 9, 2025

Itoi joined the JSA 35 years ago and has worked as a referee since he was only 15 years old. Unfortunately, he was put in charge of the collection efforts with almost no oversight and wound up using the money to allegedly fund a serious gambling habit.

The JSA's Compliance Committee further found that he had lied to other referees about major withdrawals on behalf of other wrestlers.

"According to sources, during questioning by the compliance committee, the referee confessed that he had spent tens of millions of yen on gambling and other things. The association is continuing its investigation, and is expected to impose sanctions in June after approval by the board of directors. The crime of touching the sacred reserve fund set aside by the sumo wrestlers to support disaster victims is serious, and severe punishment is expected," Nikkan Sports reported in May, translated from Japanese via Google Translate.

In the aftermath of this scandal, the JSA has reportedly required that the wrestlers will serve as their own accountants moving forward.

Chairman of the Japan Sumo Association, Hanaregoma (C) and high-ranking sumo wrestlers bow as they greet the audience from the ring at the start of the upper division bouts at the Nagoya Grand Sumo tournament in Nagoya on July 10, 2011. The first regular tournament since January started on July 10 as a match-fixing scandal forced the association to cancel the regular spring competition in March and hold a test meet last month instead of a grand summer tourney. AFP PHOTO / Jiji Press (Photo by JIJI PRESS / JIJI PRESS / AFP) / Japan OUT JIJI PRESS/Getty Images

Time will tell if the government of Japan decides to press criminal charges. It's hard to imagine prosecutors letting something like this slide given that thousands of dollars were diverted away from earthquake and tsunami victims.

But even if Itoi manages to avoid the inside of a prison cell, the stain of his acts could make him one of the nation's most hated people for a long, long time.

This article first appeared on The Spun and was syndicated with permission.

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