Expelled for Probing Missing Funds—Ex-Director Exposes Kansai Economic Club Turmoil

Meetings are held in cafés, and the website remains outdated

The club’s regular meetings are open to the general public, with a participation fee of 10,000 yen per person. Membership requires an entrance fee and monthly dues. According to the club’s regulations, senior executive directors must pay an entrance fee of 100,000 yen and a monthly fee of 10,000 yen, directors must pay 50,000 yen and 5,000 yen respectively, and general members must pay an annual fee of 50,000 yen, including the entrance fee.

With the increase in participants, the club’s financial situation seemed to be improving or so it appeared. However, this success led to growing friction between Fujieda and Chairman X. Former senior executive director A, who spoke to the press, revealed the following:

“Neither Fujieda nor I received any salary from the club, and we also paid the participation fee for each regular meeting. When we were appointed as directors, we each paid the required 110,000 yen. Additionally, when I was promoted to senior executive director, I paid another 220,000 yen as required. Despite the apparent revenue, the club had no office, meetings were always held at a café in Shimbashi, board meetings were often conducted in rented conference rooms, and the website had not been updated for years.

When I asked Chairman X about the club’s financial situation, he stubbornly refused to disclose any details. As a senior executive director, I had the right to request financial transparency under the club’s regulations, yet my requests were consistently denied. The club’s finances were managed solely by the chairman and vice chairman, raising concerns about how it was being run.”

In an effort to ensure proper management, Fujieda and others repeatedly demanded an explanation of the club’s income and expenditures, but Chairman X never complied. To make the club’s financial records accessible to all, they even applied for a new online banking account. However, just as they were taking this step, the board decided to expel Fujieda and two others in September of last year.

Unwilling to accept this decision, Fujieda and the others sent a joint notice to Chairman X and the vice chairman in October, demanding the withdrawal of their expulsion. Fujieda continued:

“According to Article 13 of the club’s regulations, the expulsion of a director or member requires a two-thirds majority vote at the senior executive board meeting, prior notification to the concerned member, and an opportunity for the concerned member to present their case at the general meeting. However, no senior executive board meeting was held, nor were we given a chance to explain ourselves. To preserve evidence, we have officially submitted and certified notices, records from the board’s shared LINE group, and online banking account records at a notary office as public evidence.”