TOKYO (TR) – The massive fraud scandal engulfing Prudential Life Insurance Co. has expanded, with the company announcing on Friday that an additional 125 customers have been bilked out of approximately 790 million yen, reports the Asahi Shimbun (July 24).
The latest revelation adds to a shocking internal investigation published in January, which revealed that 107 current and former employees had defrauded 503 customers out of roughly 3.14 billion yen. Over a staggering period spanning from 1991 to 2025, rogue employees lured victims with bogus investment schemes or borrowed cash they never intended to return.
The newly discovered damages also implicate group company Gibraltar Life Insurance. Following the initial exposure of the scandal, the company was hit with around 700 additional complaints and consultations by April.
Compensation committee
A compensation committee, which includes outside lawyers, has reviewed about half of the new claims. According to an interim report released on the 24th, the committee certified that 101 Prudential customers were defrauded of 620 million yen, while 24 Gibraltar customers lost 170 million yen. The companies have pledged to compensate the victims.
However, the committee dismissed the claims of 240 individuals, deeming compensation “unnecessary.” The company admitted this figure includes victims who had already managed to secure refunds directly from the employees involved. It also encompasses cases of inappropriate investment solicitations, though the company declined to disclose the exact number of such incidents.
In a move highlighting a lack of corporate transparency, Prudential refused to hold a formal press conference to address the swelling scandal. Instead, executives held a closed-door briefing for select media outlets where audio recording and photography were strictly prohibited.
With further damage reports expected to be filed, the full scale of the unprecedented fraud remains unknown.
