TV Asahi executive arrested! The impact of fraud charges on a high-salaried executive earning 20 million yen a year

There were so many scandals last year that I thought this year would be uneventful, but I didn’t expect that this time an executive would be arrested. The company has been inundated with calls for complaints, and the people involved are busy dealing with the situation.” (TV Asahi employee)

On February 8, the unexpected situation sent shockwaves through TV Asahi. The suspect, Kento Mita, 49, head of the Solution Promotion Department of the Sales Promotion Bureau, was arrested by the Osaka Prefectural Police on suspicion of fraud. He was suspected of cheating the government out of 9 million yen in subsidies by falsely claiming that 18 small and medium-sized companies had introduced IT tools, abusing a government program designed to promote the use of IT by small and medium-sized companies.

The 18 small and medium-sized companies that made false applications were mostly headed by Mita. It is believed that the total amount of fraudulent payments obtained through these applications amounted to nearly 200 million yen.

According to those involved, the head of the department at TV Asahi is believed to have an annual salary of nearly 20 million yen. If convicted of fraud, the penalty is up to 10 years in prison, and it is a mystery as to why they needed the subsidy to do their evil deeds.

The subsidy is designed to cover half of the cost of installing an IT system, but there is no evidence that Mita paid for the system, and it is doubtful that the system was ever installed in the first place. Since this is the first time in the country that this kind of illegal receipt of subsidies has been uncovered, the Osaka Prefectural Police is putting a lot of effort into the investigation.

Last August, a TV Asahi employee in his 20s was arrested for breaking into an apartment in Roppongi and stealing wireless earphones worth 10,000 yen.

In the same month, about 10 employees had a party at a karaoke bar despite the state of emergency being declared, and a female employee fell from the second floor and broke her leg.

After last year’s scandals, the company decided to put more effort into training young employees. However, Mr. Mita, who was recently arrested, is an executive of the company and is in charge of the sales department. He took good care of his subordinates and was well-liked by them, so I was really shocked.

In response to the arrest, TV Asahi said

In response to the arrest, TV Asahi commented, “The alleged arrest is believed to be a private act by the employee outside of work, and we have not confirmed any connection to our business.

However, it is very regrettable that our employee was arrested.

We have no business to be arrested for, so I am sure it was a private act. First of all, I think you need to make a sincere apology. We are a news organization, but to have an executive arrested for committing a crime would destroy our credibility, and those who work with outsiders in the field, such as in sales, keep bowing to everyone they meet.

In order to put an end to the string of scandals, TV Asahi may be required not only to wait for the police to investigate, but also to thoroughly uncover the truth and create an environment where employees can avoid making mistakes.