TOKYO (TR) – Tokyo Metropolitan Police have arrested four persons, including two vehicle inspectors in Saitama Prefecture, over the fraudulent passing of vehicle inspections for modified and luxury vehicles, reports the Sankei Shimbun (Dec. 2).
According to police, Norihiro Teragaki, 63, and the other three suspects are accused of conspiring between February and May to fail to perform the required inspections (shaken) on four luxury vehicles and to create false safety standard compliance certificates.
One of the other three suspects is Masanori Yokumoto, a 49-year-old auto repair shop owner based in Toda City, Saitama. He is believed to have acted as an intermediary in fraudulent inspections carried out at inspection center Brook in Yashio City, Saitama.
Yokumoto has been referred to prosecutors on suspicion of bribery for allegedly giving a bribe of 88,000 yen in cash in exchange for the fraudulent inspections.
Brook’s 73-year-old president, Teragaki and the third suspect have been referred to prosecutors on suspicion of aggravated bribery for allegedly receiving the bribe.
All of the suspects admit to the charges. One of them said, “The company’s profits and our own livelihoods were at stake.”
16,000 vehicles over 30 years
Brook is believed to have repeatedly conducted fraudulent vehicle inspections on approximately 16,000 vehicles over a 30-year period, illicitly earning approximately 350 million yen.
According to police, Brook is a nationally designated private vehicle inspection center. Teragaki and his associates are “deemed public officials” under the Road Transport Vehicle Act, making them subject to the charge of bribery.
The company allowed luxury cars such as models by Mercedes-Benz and Lamborghini, as well as illegally modified cars with protrusions attached, to pass vehicle inspections without performing inspections or maintenance.
