2 More Ex-Japan Post Workers Involved in Bidding Fraud

Tokyo, July 15 (Jiji Press)–Two more former Japan Post Co. workers were found to have been involved in bidding fraud at the postal service provider, a survey by the company has revealed. In May, a former Japan Post employee was arrested for allegedly leaking the planned contract price in February 2025 bidding for outsourcing the collection of letters and other mail items from mailboxes and receiving a total of 2.4 million yen of cash and goods in return, in violation of the law regulating the company. The internal survey showed Tuesday that the immediate predecessor of the former worker, who was in charge of bidding, and the predecessor’s predecessor committed similar wrongdoing in bidding in February 2021. The method of the wrongdoing was passed down among them. The immediate predecessor received rewards worth 400,000 yen, while the predecessor’s predecessor claimed to have not received anything, according to the survey. The immediate predecessor also suggested being involved in wrongdoing in bidding carried out in 2017. Japan Post has already dismissed the three workers while considering taking action over the 2021 case. “This is a serious issue that undermines social trust in our company,” Takaharu Suna, a Japan Post executive officer, told a press conference in Tokyo on Tuesday. “The misconduct continued for a long period, so we take this very seriously,” he added. Japan Post also announced measures to prevent a recurrence, such as a different department taking charge of bidding-related procedures, in light of the fact that a third party’s check function did not work. END [Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]