Japan, Inc. Rocked Again: Toray Admits To Falsifying Data After Internet Post Exposes Fraud
by Tyler Durden
ZeroHedge.com
Nov 28, 2017
Corporate Japan’s credibility, already teetering after a barrage of corporate fraud and falsification scandals in recent months, hit another low after Toray Industries, one of Japan’s biggest materials manufacturers, joined a list of companies admitting to falsifying data. On Tuesdaty, Toray announced it had uncovered 149 cases of data fabrication at its subsidiary, Toray Hybrid Cord, in three products sold to tire companies and autoparts makers: tire cords, cords for car hose belts and cords for paper making. According to Nikkei Asian Review, the subsidiary made the products look as though they met customer requirements. The company admitted that 13 domestic and overseas companies, including at least one South Korean company, are affected.
In a statement issued roughly around the time president Akihiro Nikkaku was bowing to news reporters as Japanese management tends to do when caught engaging in criminal activity, Toray maintained that the “amount by which the data was adjusted to fit customer contract standards was insignificant.” The company believed there were no safety issues involved. Toray Hybrid Cord discovered the problem during a July 2016 internal compliance check, with Toray president Akihiro Nikkaku being informed of the matter the following October.
Explaining why it took more than a year to disclose the falsification, Nikkaku said at a news conference in Tokyo on Tuesday morning that the company would usually not have revealed such data falsification, as there were no safety concerns or violations of law. He added that Toray would normally settle the matter with customers privately.
But it was what he said next that was truly, and sublimely bizarre moment: “We found a post on the internet in early November [2017] that said our subsidiary was falsifying data, and we had some of our shareholders and customers contacting us about the issue. In order to clarify the situation, we decided it was best to go public.”
Yes, when you are exposed is usually a good time to go public…
The Rest…HERE
