Japans Kobe Steel indicted over fabricating product quality data
Xinhua
Kobe Steel Ltd. was indicted by prosecutors Thursday on suspicion its instances of falsifying data regarding the quality of its products shipped domestically and overseas have violated an unfair competition law, reports Xinhua from Tokyo.
By mass-misrepresenting its inspection data and providing false information about the strength and durability of its products, authorities believe the firm, Japans third-largest steelmaker, is criminally liable and will face criminal charges.
The steelmaker is accused of manipulating data to meet the specific needs of its clients at three of its plants in Japan. The plants are in Tochigi, Yamaguchi, and Mie prefectures, according to the indictment.
The scandal-mired steelmaker said in October last year that it had found cases of improprieties regarding inspection data that failed to meet industry inspection standards.
The results of an internal probe initially found that products sold that had their inspection data fabricated were shipped to hundreds of companies.
Kobe Steel has admitted sending quality assurance certificates to its clients between September 2016 and September 2017, despite the corresponding products not meeting the requisite standards.
At the conclusion of a probe and in a report released in March, Kobe Steel said in order to make it look like their products met their clients specifications, they deliberately falsified the strength and other data pertaining to products, which were supplied to over 600 companies at home and overseas.
Data was manipulated at 23 domestic and overseas plants, the report said.
The company also admitted that more than 40 employees were involved in the falsification practice, which the firm said had been endemic in the company since the 1970s when the misconduct first began at its Tochigi Plant.
The steelmakers headquarters were recently raided in Tokyo and Kobe as well as other locations by police and prosecutors in search of evidence of the companys misdoings and to question staff and officials about the fraudulent activities.
Kobe Steel Ltd., at first, said it had falsified inspection data on a number of its products, including aluminum, copper, steel powder and special steel products.
It came to light that the embattled steel makers own investigations had, additionally, revealed cover-ups and more incidents of data falsification thereafter.
Companies ranging from automakers and airplane manufacturers, to defense equipment and Shinkansen bullet train makers, have been affected by the scandal that has rocked the manufacturing world both domestically and globally.
Investigations revealed that Kobe Steel, initially, knowingly shipped at least 20,000 tons of aluminum and copper products with fabricated inspection data. The products were sent to around 200 companies.
The scandal-plagued firm also admitted that an internal probe had revealed that 140 tons of iron powder shipped in fiscal 2016 did not meet customer specifications.
It also said that one of its subsidiaries, Kobelco Research Institute, had falsified data related to the production method of liquid crystal displays, DVDs and other electronic equipment.
In Japan, major railway operators Central Japan Railway and West Japan Railway have stated that their Shinkansen bullet trains contained aluminum parts sourced from Kobe Steel that did not meet industry standards.
The railway operators have since taken their own measures to rectify the potentially faulty components. Beyond automakers and trains, Kobe Steel has also been implicated in fabricating data for aerospace and defense-related products.
