 Take preventive measures: JCP on arrest of former Seibu group chair The Tokyo Public Prosecutors Office on March 3 arrested Tsutsumi Yoshiaki, former Kokudo Corp. chairman, for making false financial statements on the shareholdings of Seibu Railway Co. and engaging in insider trading in violation of the Securities and Exchange Law. Kokudo Corp. is a core firm of the Seibu Group, a giant conglomerate with assets estimated at 1.8 trillion yen. The group has 135 corporations and more than 160 hotels, golf courses, and other resort facilities. Regarding Tsutsumi's arrest, Japanese Communist Party Policy Commission Chair Koike Akira commented on the same day as follows: "The prosecutors have every reason to arrest Tsutsumi as clear from ample evidence of his involvement in the false statements on securities bills and insider tradings. This scandal has led to mistrust of major corporations listed on the Tokyo Securities Exchange and in the nation's securities market as a whole because the Seibu group is one of Japan's largest corporate groups. Full investigation is essential for establishing the facts as to how such illegal activities of a major corporation could have been withheld for many years. The government and the securities exchange must take urgent and fundamental measures to prevent such illegal business activities. (end) |