Kobe Steel says senior executives knew about data tampering

Kobe Steel Ltd (5406.T), at the center of a data-falsification scandal that has shaken Japan’s manufacturing industry, admitted for the first time that executives were aware of the cheating, and reassigned three senior officials.

Kobe Steel Executive Vice President Naoto Umehara attends a news conference in Tokyo, Japan December 21, 2017.

Japan’s No.3 steelmaker, which supplies the manufacturers of cars, planes and trains across the world, has said about 500 customers had received products with falsified specifications, throwing global supply chains into turmoil.

Outside investigators appointed by Kobe to look into the malpractice have found that senior officials in the company’s copper and aluminum business knew of some of the cheating.

“Based on this information, as of today, we have reassigned these three executives,” the company said, adding it would decide on any punishments after the probe was completed.

Kobe also said the investigation would be completed by around the end of February, two months later than expected.

The 112-year-old company has had Japanese government-sanctioned seals of quality revoked on many of its products and is also the subject of a U.S. Justice Department inquiry.

No safety issues have so far been identified from the data cheating, which mainly involves falsely certifying the strength and durability of products.

Kawasaki said in November that his “ultimate management responsibility” will be decided after the outside investigators complete their report on the case.

A series of compliance failings by Japanese companies have surfaced in the past few months.

Scandals have involved Nissan Motor (7201.T) as well as Mitsubishi Materials Corp (5711.T) and Toray Industries (3402.T) - key suppliers of products to global manufacturers.

(REUTERS)