Over 90 MSDF members punished over scandal involving shipbuilders
Saito will lose 10% of his salary for a month to take responsibility for the scandal, while the remaining 92 personnel were reprimanded or given warnings.
"We deeply apologize for causing a scandal that has greatly undermined expectations and trust," Saito said at a news conference on Wednesday. "We will create an atmosphere in which members can say wrong things are wrong."
Vice Defense Minister Kazuo Masuda was also strongly reprimanded for not properly overseeing the MSDF chief of staff.
The Maritime Self-Defense Force's chief of staff, Adm. Akira Saito, speaks at a news conference at the Defense Ministry on Wednesday in Tokyo. |
JIJI
The Defense Ministry said that Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Japan Marine United and Sasebo Heavy Industries had fraudulently provided items — mainly related to submarine operations, such as monitors and chairs — to the MSDF upon request.
To fund the provision, the MSDF created fake submarine repair orders for the shipbuilders. When asked by MSDF members for personal equipment, the three shipbuilders refused, the ministry said.
Kawasaki Heavy Industries provided 13 MSDF members with game consoles, golf equipment, wristwatches and other personnel items, worth ¥1.4 million ($9,400) in total, funded by slush funds created through fictitious submarine repair transactions with the MSDF, according to the ministry.
The 13 members include three supervisors who determine whether submarine repairs are needed. The three supervisors have grave responsibility for the scandal as they have the authority to oversee suppliers, the ministry said.
The ministry plans to take separate punitive action against the 13 personnel.
One of the 13 has told ministry investigators that a senior member told him to request personal items with shipbuilders, according to the ministry.
The bogus transactions with Kawasaki Heavy began around 1985. Some ¥1.7 billion's worth of such transactions was found over the six years through fiscal 2023.
Since the fraud was instigated by the MSDF, the ministry will not exclude the four companies from doing business with it.
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