A Hit-and-Run and Suspect for Murder Is CBC TV Chairman’s Driver!

On February 28, a quiet residential area in Seto City, Aichi Prefecture, was in an uproar. Around 8:00 a.m., when a resident warned the driver about parking on the street, he got into an argument with the driver, and the car suddenly started off. The driver was arrested on the same day. The male victim, who suffered injuries to his arms and legs that will take up to two months to heal, said, “I’m still under investigation, so there’s not much I can tell you.”

“We are still under investigation, so there is not much I can tell you. Every morning, a black Alphard was parked at an intersection where there were many accidents during busy traffic hours. That had been going on for about a year or two, so I thought it was dangerous and called out to the driver, but he countered, ‘I park here every day. ‘ I asked him to move over a little and get out of the car, and when I was about to call the police, he suddenly got into the driver’s seat and sped off in the car.”

The suspect, Koji Seike, 50, a company employee, was arrested for attempted murder. However, there was more to this incident than just a hit-and-run by the company employee.

In fact, this car was the exclusive courtesy car of Masaki Sugiura, 67, chairman of CBC Television (Chubu Nippon Broadcasting System), a TBS-affiliated TV station in Nagoya.

A CBC TV official told this magazine with a mysterious look on his face.

The hit-and-run incident on February 28 occurred on the way to pick up the chairman. I heard that he picked up the chairman and drove him to the bureau without a care in the world after he had hit and run someone. He was a careful driver, so people were surprised.

The road in front of the chairman’s house is narrow, so Seike is believed to have been waiting a short distance away. On the day of the incident, he probably started his car in a hurry because he got into an argument with a neighbor while waiting and would have been late for the pick-up if the police were called.

Speaking of CBC Television, the incident of embezzlement by an announcer reported by this magazine last December is still fresh in our minds. After the hit-and-run incident, there was an outpouring of discontent within CBC.

CBC reported a summary of the incident, but did not mention that the car was the chairman’s shuttle. CBC also did not report the previous embezzlement incident involving an announcer. There are many people within CBC who are angry about this kind of cover-up.

To confirm the facts, we directly contacted CBC Chairman Sugiura.

–I would like to ask you about the February 28 incident. When did you become aware of the incident?

I had no idea (at the time of the incident). I was surprised when I learned about it through an inquiry from the police on the day of the incident.

–CBC also reported the incident.

The person who caused the accident is not an employee of our company, and we are only outsourcing the work. It is true that the person who caused the accident was picked up and dropped off, but it was also true that the accident occurred in a place that I had no knowledge of.

–I have heard that there are some people who are asking if this is a cover-up.

“I have heard that some people are calling it a cover-up. It is only the driver’s case. It never means that I am the one driving the car.”

–I also heard that he had been involve in a similar situation and stopped working for about six months.

I don’t have all the details, but I did hear that there had been one complaint.

Bunka Kotsu was originally a subsidiary of CBC, although it was sold last year and became a separate company. Because of this relationship, Bunka Kotsu is still contracted to provide relay trucks and courtesy cars, and also dispatches drivers to take executives to and from work.

The chairman of the company, who came to work in the car of the hit-and-run suspect, himself, is not at all concerned about the incident, saying that it happened out of his control.

From the March 24, 2023 issue of FRIDAY