Takeshi Sugiyama, former president of Mitsubishi Electric Corporation, is troubled by his “no good” son’s “billion yen fraud trouble.

It was on January 18 this year that the Kyoto Prefectural Police announced the arrest of Reo Sugiyama, 30, a company executive from Osaka City. Sugiyama and eight others held a male acquaintance captive for 24 days. They allegedly robbed him of approximately 180 million yen worth of cash and virtual currency.

In addition to the modern-day crime of robbing virtual currency, what attracted the media’s attention in this case was the “family background” of the suspect. In fact, Sugiyama is the son of Takeshi Sugiyama, 66, who served as president of Mitsubishi Electric Corporation, one of Japan’s leading electronics manufacturers.

Takeshi joined Mitsubishi Electric after graduating from Nagoya University and rose through the ranks with an unrivaled work ethic that was recognized by both himself and others, becoming president in 2006. He resigned in 2009 when the fraudulent inspections were discovered, but was later appointed as a senior advisor to the company,” said a source close to Mitsubishi Electric.

The suspect, Takeshi’s son Sugiyama, is said to have graduated from Tokai University and joined a subsidiary of Mitsubishi Electric, but eventually left the company. He is said to have left the company after graduating from Tokai University and joining a subsidiary of Mitsubishi Electric, but eventually left the company.

However, Sugiyama’s misdeeds were not the only ones. Prior to his arrest, he had even taken advantage of his father’s prestige to commit investment fraud. One of the investors, Mr. A, a Kansai resident in his 50s, testified.

I met Sugiyama through an acquaintance last March. A man named Yuya Takeuchi, who was arrested with me in the robbery case, was also with me. Sugiyama asked me to invest 300 million yen in him, saying, ‘I’m starting up a company to handle money certificates, and would you help me?

Mr. A was initially reluctant because the investment was too high, but Sugiyama continued to persuade him with clever words.

Takeuchi, who was with him, said confidently, “Reo’s father is Takeshi Sugiyama, who was the president of Mitsubishi Electric. He also showed us his bank balance of about 1.2 billion yen and explained that he would take care of it if anything should happen to him.

Trusting his father’s name and the security of his bank account, Mr. A invested 300 million yen. After that, Sugiyama and the other suspects continued to demand additional funds for any reason they could think of, and Mr. A’s investments totaled 1,145 million yen. However, no return on the investment was ever forthcoming.

When we pressed them for repayment, they showed us their financial statements with their business partners and proof of balance with sales proceeds. But they were all forgeries. I later found out that they were not even in business. Even so, Sugiyama and the others insisted that it was not a fraud.

In November of last year, Mr. A, out of frustration, called his father, Takeshi, and explained the situation to him. He received the following response.

Takeshi asked us to wait until January, and we signed a memorandum of understanding (see image below). The memorandum also stated, “I deeply apologize for the breach of contract,” and “I will supervise both of you to ensure that the refund will be made. Takeshi has repaid approximately 100 million yen, but the rest of the money has not been repaid.

Later, Sugiyama was arrested for the aforementioned robbery, and Mr. A has offered to repay the money through his lawyer.

When this magazine called Takeshi’s cell phone in late March, he said, “I can’t answer your question because my lawyer has stopped me. I’m sorry,” he said, revealing his feelings.

He said, “My son is in jail and I have seen him several times, but we haven’t had much time to talk. I think he should take responsibility for what he has done. I am sure a damage report will be filed, but I think he should take responsibility for it.

True to his words, Mr. A is now preparing to file a criminal complaint.

More than 20 people have been victims of fraud perpetrated by Sugiyama and others, with the total amount of fraud reaching more than 1.6 billion yen. Some of them have lost their assets and their families have committed suicide. Sugiyama and his team should pay up as soon as possible.

Mitsubishi Electric Corporation responded to our inquiry with the following statement: “This is a personal matter, and we are unable to respond to it. Takeshi Sugiyama resigned as a senior advisor as of March 31.

One wonders how much pain the father must be feeling over the trouble caused by his no-good son.

From the May 5, 2023 issue of FRIDAY