Japan Press Weekly

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2009 February 11 - 17 [SCANDAL]

Arrested suspect boasted of his pull with Canon President Mitarai

Akahata has learned that Oga Norihisa, who was arrested for evading taxes on his earnings in the construction of Canon factories in Oita Prefecture, used to boast of his strong connection with Canon President Mitarai Fujio.

The consultancy firm Daiko, the interior work company Light Black, and the interior furnishing company Takumi, all owned by the suspect, are apparently involved in this scandal.

A former employee of one of these companies said to an Akahata reporter, “Oga used to tell us that his companies were able to do business because they were backed by Mitarai.”

According to the former employee, Light Black used floor materials from the U.S., which were more expensive than domestic products. These flooring materials had been used only for Canon’s new factories in question, and there had been no other demand for them, he said.

There are only 13 workers employed by the three companies. They together made about 5.1 billion yen in Canon-related sales during the five-year period from 2003, accounting for the majority of company earnings.

After the arrest of Oga, Canon President Mitarai admitted that the suspect is “a longtime friend,” but said, “It is not something that Canon and I took part in.”