(Bloomberg) -- A former Nomura Securities Co. employee has been arrested on suspicion of robbery and attempted murder of an elderly couple who were clients of the brokerage, Kyodo reported, the latest negative headlines to hit the Japanese financial firm.
The 29-year-old man worked for the unit of Nomura Holdings Inc. when the alleged crime took place in Hiroshima in July, Kyodo reported, citing an unidentified person involved in the investigation.
He is suspected of drugging a customer and his spouse, stealing about ¥26 million ($171,000) in cash from their home and setting fire to the building, according to the report. The couple in their 80s escaped safely from the blaze, it said.
A spokesperson for Nomura Holdings confirmed that the person is a former employee who was dismissed for disciplinary reasons, without saying when he worked there.
“It is extremely regrettable that a former employee of ours has been arrested,” the spokesperson said.
The arrest may add to investor concerns about Nomura, which has seen its reputation damaged by revelations of bond market manipulation. Nomura executives are giving up part of their pay to take responsibility, the firm said Thursday after the Financial Services Agency imposed a fine over the March 2021 trading incident.
In Japan, sales staff at brokerages including Nomura often serve individual clients by paying house calls. Nomura’s retail division — now known as wealth management — generated more than 40% of the firm’s pretax profit last fiscal year.
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