Ex-Official at Toshiba Unit Held for Breach-of-Trust Charges

Osaka, Dec. 4 (Jiji Press)–Japanese police have arrested a former official of Toshiba Tec Corp. for breach-of-trust charges for repeatedly placing orders for unnecessary personal computers and causing financial damage to the company. Arrested by the police department of Osaka Prefecture, western Japan, on Wednesday was Yusuke Tanaka, 47, former head of the Kansai area marketing division at the Kansai branch of Tokyo-based Toshiba Tec, a unit of Japanese machinery maker Toshiba Corp. Toshiba Tec’s total financial damage from the fraudulent PC orders placed by Tanaka has reached about 230 million yen, according to sources including the police department. The Kansai region of western Japan includes Osaka. Tanaka has admitted the allegations against him. The police will investigate details, including his motives. He was arrested for allegedly procuring 31 PCs in May-August 2024 while pretending to deliver them to client companies, causing Toshiba Tec to lose about 9.9 million yen. Tanaka sold all of the PCs to shops, generating some 6.8 million yen in profit, according to investigative sources. The suspect, who had been in a position to supervise the company’s marketing operations in the Kansai region, was fired in February this year after his misconduct came to light in December 2024. Toshiba Tec, listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange’s top-tier Prime section, posted consolidated sales of about 577 billion yen and a net profit of 29.9 billion yen in fiscal 2024, which ended in March this year. Its line of business includes developing point-of-sale systems and multifunction printers. “We will further strengthen our internal control system in an effort to regain the trust of our stakeholders,” Toshiba Tec said in a statement released following the arrest of Tanaka. END [Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]