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Ex-Mitsubishi Electric employees accused in ¥42 million fake order scam

Hitoshi Nomura
Hitoshi Nomura

TOKYO (TR) – Tokyo Metropolitan Police have arrested a former president of a subsidiary electrical machinery company Mitsubishi Electric and other former employees over a fake-order scam involving a Shinkansen train ticketing system, reports NHK (June 28).

On Tuesday, police arrested Hitoshi Nomura, 70, a former president of Mitsubishi Electric Information Technology, and former Mitsubishi Electric employee Shigetoshi Kaneyama, 66, for allegedly collecting 42 million yen after submitting fake orders for maintenance of the internet-based Express Reservation system for the Tokaido and Sanyo lines between 2009 and the following year.

Nomura, who has been charged with fraud, denies the charges. “Nothing like a fraudulent act took place,” the suspect is quoted. “I don’t know about any fake orders.” Kaneyama admits to the allegations, according to NHK (June 28).

According to police, the suspects ordered former Mitsubishi Electric employee Yuji Watanabe, 58, to carry out the fraud. Watanabe was previously arrested as a part of the investigation.

Over a five-year period through 2013, the suspects are believed to have used a series of similar scams to systematically defraud Mitsubuishi Electric out of a total of approximately 480 million yen.

The matter came to light after Mitsubishi Electric was the subject of an inquiry conducted by the Tokyo Regional Taxation Bureau three years ago.

In a statement issued on June 28, the company said that it was cooperating with the investigation. “In addition to dealing with this matter strictly, we will continue to focus on thorough measures to prevent a recurrence,” the statement read.