Kobe Steel execs may have tolerated data falsification

November 9, 2017

TOKYO- Some directors at Kobe Steel Ltd. may have given silent approval for product data falsification, informed sources said Tuesday.

While the data falsification, which began more than a decade ago, has already been found to be organizational, involving factory managers and others, the Japanese company has not confirmed whether its directors were part of it.

There have been directors who formerly worked at plants where the falsification of product data was committed, the sources said.

"It's unlikely that directors who had worked at the plants were totally unaware of it," a former Kobe Steel official said.

An investigation panel of external lawyers that Kobe Steel set up last month is looking into the possible involvement of former and current directors.

The company is expected to release a report on its internal investigation into the scandal and measures to prevent similar misconduct as early as Friday.

As preventive measures, the company is considering fully automating the input of product data and introducing a system to double-check data by at least two workers.

The data falsification is believed to have partly reflected fears of missing product delivery deadlines.

The Kobe Steel management will decide how it will take responsibility for the scandal after receiving a report from the external investigation team by the end of this year.

The company said on Tuesday that it has confirmed the safety of its products delivered to 470 companies, up 27 from earlier announced, out of the 525 customers that it has shipped affected products to.Jiji Press