Japan volleyball player arrested for pachinko wallet theft

Tokyo: A Japan national team volleyball player has been arrested on suspicion of stealing cash from a wallet at a `pachinko` pinball parlour, Tokyo police said on Friday.

Kongoh Oh, 30, confessed to taking the money, according to police, while his club team Toray pulled out of national championships in a show of remorse.

The incident comes after Japanese Olympic officials were embarrassed by swimmer Naoya Tomita`s arrest at the Asian Games in South Korea in September after he admitted stealing a journalist`s camera during training. He was subsequently banned from the sport for 18 months.

According to local media reports, Oh took 140,000 yen (around $1,200) from the wallet when the owner, a man in his 20s, left his seat at the pachinko parlour.

Oh then handed the wallet to staff but remained at the parlour and was still there when police were called to the scene after the victim noticed the money was missing.

After checking security cameras, police questioned Oh, who admitted to taking the money.