Kazuyoshi Okazaki

Sen Hayakawa

The arrests were made after the Financial Services Agency filed a criminal complaint Oct. 7 against the core banking unit of UFJ Holdings Inc. and the three former executives with the Tokyo District Public Prosecutor's Office, saying they obstructed FSA inspections in October 2003.

Prosecutors plan to investigate Masashi Teranishi, 57, who was bank president at the time, for possible involvement.

Masayuki Inaba

The three former executives are suspected of moving more than 100 items, including boxes of financial information on large-lot borrowers, with the intention of hiding them from FSA officers between August and October last year, according to the prosecutors.

The officers also saw bank employees ripping up documents during inspections.

Under the Banking Law, individuals convicted of obstructing FSA inspections face a prison term of up to one year and fines of up to ¥3 million. Corporations can be fined a maximum of ¥200 million.

The Japan Times Weekly: Dec. 11, 2004
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