Allegations on Sompo Japan Employee Tasked with Factory Manager Duties at Big Motor

On January 30th, Big Motor employee Toshiyuki Kambara (51), who served as a member of the environmental maintenance promotion committee, was arrested by the Kanagawa Prefectural Police on suspicion of property damage. Kambara is alleged to have cut down six roadside trees in front of the store, making him the first arrestee in the roadside tree issue. Additionally, on February 1st, two male employees who had been assisting Kambara in cutting down the roadside trees under his instruction were also referred to prosecutors.

 

Amidst various allegations of misconduct surrounding Big Motor, progress has also been made in the suspicion of insurance fraud. Sompo Japan, which has been reported to have a close relationship with Big Motor, published the final report of an external investigation committee on January 16th. On January 25th, it received a “business improvement order” from the Financial Services Agency, and on the following day, January 26th, a press conference was held to announce the resignation of Kengo Sakurada, Chairman and CEO of the Sompo Holdings Group.

While some may perceive the administrative sanction by the Financial Services Agency as lenient for being an improvement order rather than a suspension order, it brings a sense of relief to stakeholders that one phase has come to a close.

However, according to investigations conducted by the author, there was a fact that was not mentioned in the report. It has long been suspected that Sompo Japan had dispatched several employees to Big Motor, raising suspicions of involvement in fraudulent insurance claims. Despite this, the report did not address this issue.

“After careful examination of relevant materials and findings from interviews, it was not confirmed that the secondee were involved in the fraudulent claims in question.”

But in reality, the secondee were responsible for the role of factory manager at Big Motor. Moreover, the store in question was the flagship store of Big Motor, the Tama store, which was highlighted in an external lawyer’s investigation last year for suspected 122 cases of inappropriate conduct.

Prior to this shocking revelation, let’s first clarify the relationship between Sompo Japan and Big Motor. Sompo Japan began dispatching secondee to the panel beating and painting department of Big Motor in May 2015, and by January 2023, a total of seven secondee with adjuster qualifications had been dispatched.