Japan Kobe Steel Institute tampering with data will be prosecuted

Regarding the tampering of the product data of the Kobe Steel Works in Japan, the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department searched 2 classes on the 17th for the alleged violation of the Anti-Unfair Competition Law (falsely marked), and the head of Kobelco and the four factory owners as legal persons. The relevant data is transferred to the prosecution. The Tokyo Local Prosecutor's Office is expected to sue Kobelco and will not sue four responsible persons.

According to relevant sources, the opinions given by the four people in the search for 2 lessons may be “comprehensive punishment” judged by the prosecution, rather than “serious punishment” for prosecution.

In view of the tampering behavior that has lasted for decades and high-level participation, the special search department can judge the criminal responsibility of Kobelco as a legal person. Regarding the person in charge of the factory, the prosecution estimates that it may not explicitly recognize the illegality.

The person who is transferred to the prosecution is the person in charge of the inspection of the Masaoka Manufacturing Co., Ltd. (Machioka City, Tochigi Prefecture), the Changfu Manufacturing Co., Ltd. (Shimonoseki City, Yamaguchi Prefecture), and the Daan Manufacturing Office (Minami City, Mie Prefecture). They allegedly tamper with the inspection results of aluminum and copper products and ship them as products that meet customer specifications.

The final report released by Kobelco in March showed that there were tampering activities in 23 factories in Japan and abroad, and the problem products were used for aircraft and Shinkansen with high safety requirements. Suppliers are involved in more than 600 companies at home and abroad.

In June, the Metropolitan Police Department and the Special Search Department conducted a room search for the Kobelco Tokyo headquarters, the Kobe headquarters, and three factories. The Anti-Unfair Competition Law prohibits the delivery of misleading labels on product quality in transaction documents. Companies that violate the regulations will be fined up to 300 million yen (about RMB 17.84 million).