A 28-year-old man who was arrested for robbery and assault during a home break-in in Yotsukaido City, Chiba Prefecture, on Sunday has told police he was heavily in debt and searched for high-paying jobs on X.

"My debts were mounting and I was struggling to make ends meet,” police quoted Yuta Kaneko as saying, Kyodo News reported. Kaneko, a company employee, was sent to prosecutors on Monday.

According to police, Kaneko broke into a house via a bedroom window at around 4:30 a.m. Sunday. He woke up a 57-year-old man who was in bed, punched him in the face and demanded money. The man gave him his wallet containing 13,000 yen and Kaneko fled.

The victim lives in the house with his younger brother and mother who called 110. Kaneko was arrested near the house.

Police said the victim told them that Kaneko was using a smartphone during the break-in.

Police said that Kaneko told them he was recruited online to carry out the robbery and that he would be paid 100,000. He was told the job was to steal cash from scammers.

Kaneko also said he was warned not to tell the police and that during the break-in, he was receiving instructions on the highly confidential communication app Signal.